Secret Santa is a common activity for high school students across the country. Names are randomly assigned to an individual, and they purchase a gift for that person. The tradition is also celebrated worldwide and traced back to Scandinavia where it’s called “Julklapp.” In some countries, secret Santa is known as “Kris Kringel.” Some Hispanic countries use “amigo secreto” (secret friend). Secret Santa is named after Santa Claus in the US and Kris Kringel comes from the Austrian gift bringer “Christkindl.”

Several sports and activities at CDM participate in secret Santa, including Trident Magazine. The students chose names out of a hat at the beginning of December and filled out a Google Form with all their requests. The gifts ranged from scented candles to “In-N-Out Burger.” Senior Angelina Jia stated, “I love secret Santa because it’s an easy and fairly cheap way to give presents to a larger group of people. It’s a lot of fun getting to see what things people enjoy and try to match a present to them. Sometimes though, it’s a little hard to think of something to get someone, especially when they don’t give a lot of information about what types of presents they are hoping for. This year I got a really nice lipgloss and necklace from my secret Santa and absolutely loved them.” When asked about the most challenging part about secret Santa, most of the class agreed it matched the gift to the person. Junior Alexis Briggeman stated she bought a scented candle from “Bath and Bodyworks,”and glasses from “Francesca’s” for her secret Santa. She mentioned she bought the glasses since they matched her secret Santa’s hair. The group met during class on Wednesday and brought each other their gifts during their holiday potluck party. Senior Eliana Posin loves the holidays and revealed, “I have spent my entire bank  account on secret Santa gifts.”