Since 2014, Student Council (STUCO) has been adding to the Valentine’s day spirit. For the past two years, carnations have been sold and distributed by students for the students.

The main idea of the sale is to help cover the costs of the annual spring break service trip. Last year, STUCO made a donation of $4000 to fund the trip to Arkansas.

“Our proceeds that we make from the carnation sale help to fund that contribution for the following year,” Robin Dotson, sponsor of STUCO, said.

This year, the club raised the donation amount to $6000 to make it more accessible to more students, Dotson said.

Throughout the course of the year, STUCO has held various fundraisers including homecoming to help fund the trip. The carnation sales are just another way to support Dr. Ramsey, Dotson said.

Carnations are being sold on the stage during lunch until Feb. 11. One carnation is $2, and three carnations for $5.

“So last year we charged a dollar for every carnation, but we hardly made any profit,” Dotson said. “We are hoping that people will still buy even though the price is higher this year.”

After the sale concludes, the carnations will be delivered by STUCO members during 5th hour on Friday, Feb. 12.

Kenzie Winstead, sophmore, has hope that sales will increase throughout the week, especially once it reaches the day before.

“Usually it is the busiest on the 11th because everyone is rushing,” Winstead said.

Although the sale started off relatively slow, Evie Rohrbach, sophomore, said she hopes the sale picks up because she enjoys seeing the smiles on people’s faces when students receive the carnations.

“We are hoping for a ton of people to buy carnations, but high schoolers don’t like to spend money on this,” Rohrback said.

Dotson started the sale because she said she was surprised to find that MHS didn’t have a sale like this for Valentine’s Day.

The concern of a sale like this is students feeling left out, Dotson said. But, last year she worked with teachers to gift leftover carnations to deserving students.

“If there is any kid that we think could really use a carnation as a pick me up, we try to pinpoint those kids and then get a flower sent their way even though nobody might have actually filled out a card for them,” Dotson said.

Even though it is a shame that not every student will get a carnation, it is an enjoyable way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Dotson said.

“I just think it is festive and fun and it’s something that kids really enjoy and it kind of just makes that day a little more exciting,” Dotson said.