Prefect Council hosted their annual Valentine’s Day coffeehouse in the Chalmers Lounge to celebrate student artists on Feb. 13.

Junior Prefect Charlotte Im ’27 organized the event and said hosting the event during the school day increased the amount of students in attendance.

“Juniors and seniors especially have been more used to having coffee houses after school,” Im said. “And, during those, we usually get a pretty good turnout, but having it during school today, that was the biggest turn out for a coffeehouse I’ve ever seen.”

Zara Groves ’27, an attendee of the coffeehouse, said seeing her classmates perform and show off their talents both brought her joy and amazed her.

“I’m surprised every time I go to one of these coffeehouses because of how talented everyone is around me,” Groves said. “I went to go see my friends, but all of the performances were absolutely phenomenal. The performers were so amazing, but they’re also just normal human beings, which is really crazy.”

Groves said one of her favorite aspects of the event was seeing her peers participating in something they enjoy outside of the usual academic setting she sees them in.

“Seeing my classmates and friends partake in something they really enjoy just makes my heart warm,” Groves said. “I’m so glad that people around me can undertake these endeavors and do these arts. It’s so different to see your classmates in an academic sense and then seeing their own arts because I think arts are really who we are as people.”

Julia Meyer ’27, also known as @juliamoxiemusic on Instagram, played two original songs at the coffeehouse and said the backing from her friends and peers is one of the main reasons she enjoys playing for events like these.

“When I was playing, I felt really supported,” Meyer said. “It makes me feel really good to know that there’s a community that’s going to be able to back my love for music. Music brings people together, and being in an environment where people are playing is always extremely supportive because nobody’s judging you. You’re just sharing what you love to do.”

Groves said the coffeehouse helped her mitigate some stress from an otherwise-hectic school day.

“Coffeehouses overall are good relaxing points,” Groves said. “It’s nice to take a break from the academics and really just focus on something that truly adds value to our lives.”

Groves said seeing a display of creativity was a good reminder that academics are not everything.

“Most students at Harvard-Westlake are really hard-working and have a lot going on,” Groves said. “Having that balance between seeing art and seeing people perform versus our academic lives offers a great break. I’m really glad we do coffeehouses. It’s so great to separate ourselves from the chaos and overwhelming academics by having this as a little breather.”