The yearbook staff took a break from all of their hard work this semester and had a winter party on the last day of class. At this party, they had a breakfast potluck, a Secret Pals gift exchange, and looked over and edited their final yearbook spreads to end the semester.

Each student brought their peer’s favorite items along with snacks and drinks for the class to enjoy. Everyone was happy with their gift, even though more than half of the staff did last-minute shopping.

Senior Allen got her gift at 6 a.m. that morning.

“I’ve been so busy working that I haven’t had time to get a gift,” Allen said. “I finished shopping for my person this morning and I am glad my person liked their gift.”

Senior Sydney Olishile finished shopping on Monday.

“My person was easy to shop for, I’m just a procrastinator,” Olishile admitted. “I got half of my presents from the mall and half from CVS.”

At the beginning of the class period, instead of rushing to the food, yearbook students traded gifts. Junior Alonna Gibson gave her gift first. She had senior Nadia Maddex.

“It was kind of hard to keep it a secret because I talk to her all day, every day.”

Little did Gibson know that after she handed her gift to Maddex, Nadia handed her a gift right back.

“I knew Alonna had me because Brooke told me right before class started on accident,” Maddex said. “I do really well with keeping secrets so Alonna had no idea I had her and I was able to get her a really thoughtful gift because we are so close.”

Yearbook has had a Secret Pals party for the past 6 years.

This was Helen Nelson’s first year in yearbook but she is familiar with the Secret Santa concept.

“I think Secret Santas are super fun,” Nelson said. “It’s honestly a great opportunity to get surprise gifts from people that you don’t normally celebrate with.”