About half of Morton East students will be participating in Secret Santa. 

In a random survey of 100 Morton East students, “Do you participate in Secret Santa?” 53% Students reported that they do secret Santa and, 47% Students said no.  

Traditionally, Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift. Deriving from the Christian tradition, the ritual is known as Secret Santa in the United States and the United Kingdom; as Kris Kringel or Kris Kindle (Christkindl) in Ireland; as Secret Santa, Kris Kringle, Chris Kindle (Christkindl) or Engerl-Bengerl in parts of Austria; as Secret Santa or Kris Kringle in Canada and Australia; as Secret Santa, Kris Kringle, or Monito-monita in the Philippines; as Angelito in the Dominican Republic; and as “Wichteln” in Germany.  

As far as Secret Santa official rules go, the only real one is that the gift-givers remain anonymous. Doing so makes the whole event far more successful and exciting for all involved. Over time, Secret Santa now tends to occur in schools and workplaces, or even in particularly large families, and offers the chance for the giving and receiving of gifts at a low price to participants, anonymously or otherwise. 

Ahead of the day those presents are given out, the names of those involved are put into a hat (of the Christmas variety ideally) and then each participant draws, in secret, the name of the person for whom they’ll buy a gift. Everyone then goes away and buys their gifts within a set budget.  (In schools, there may be a $5 or $10 limit.) Each gift is marked with the name of the recipient, but not the gift-giver. The giving of the Secret Santa gifts is usually performed with all presents being placed under a tree, ahead of the day or just before.  

“I enjoy participating in Secret Santa because I love shopping for others and love receiving surprise gifts. It is so much fun to get something in my mailbox and not know who it came from until the last day of exchanging gifts, “English teacher Ms. Genge said. 

 Another student feels the same way. 

“I enjoy doing secret Santa because it’s a big surprise. You don’t know who you’re going to get, and you don’t know who got you,” senior student Victoria Ferrer said. 

All people do secret Santa different from others. 

“I usually participate in a secret Santa if there are more than six people to buy gifts for. This can be very overwhelming, so it’s easier to it this way. I only do it when there are more than six of us,” Economics & Civics teacher Ms. Sandoval said. 

And others have fewer people that participated with. 

“Yo siempre incluyo a los más cercanos como a cinco,” junior student Nancy Ortiz said. 

Everyone gives different types of gifts. 

“Cada año que hacemos secreto santa siempre tenemos limites de que tipo de regalos debemos que comprar, como ejemplo unos perfumes, maquillaje, o vela aromatica, ” Jenialy Miranda, a senior, responded. 

Meanwhile, teachers give other gifts. 

“T-shirts, chocolates, the candies that come in a box: 15 chocolates for $20. I also give small simple stuff,” Special Education Teacher Mr. Asay said.

 Secret Santa is a way to bring people together. 

“I do secret Santa with friends; we usually meet at a friend’s house and give each other our gifts. It depends what day Christmas lands on, but we usually do it a day before Christmas. Overall doing secret Santa is fun because we can spend time together,” sophomore student Stephanie Quevedo.