My senior year, some guys in Gioia's advisory found out it was his birthday. It was an assembly day, so we decided we'd try to sing him happy birthday in assembly. I was sitting close to the end of a row, so I started a "We're gonna sing happy birthday to Gioia. Pass it on." whisper down my row until most of the seniors had heard the plan. We found a good pause when Gioia was speaking and started singing. Other classes joined in (even though they didn't know to whom exactly they were singing). The song went well and Gioia appreciated it (I think), but the best part was how red his face got while 700 boys sang him happy birthday.
submitted by Will McFadden '13