With eleven days away from the stress of school and piles upon piles of homework, there’s a ton of time to do practically whatever a teen wants. Most students at Utica have plans with family and friends over break to celebrate the spirit of Christmas.

“After I open my presents at my house,” sophomore Mackenzie Lema said, “I go to my grandma’s house to open more presents and have dinner.”

Utica High is full of many diverse students who have a multitude of different arrangements for Christmas. What might seem strange to some people are times for other families to have a great time with one another. Opening presents, driving across the country to see long-lost family, and setting up the Christmas tree at the very last minute are all things people have planned, or may not have planned, during the fervor of Christmas break.

On the other hand, a lot more families just get together with the people in their house to exchange the gifts they bought for one another. Buying a present for someone is a lot more than buying the first thing that comes to mind. There should be a ton of thought and effort put in to finding the perfect gift. Even if a gift is utterly stupid and looks terrible, the gift might represent something special that occurred between the giver and the receiver. The meaning behind the gifts matters a lot more than the actual gift.

“I hope,” sophomore Benjamin Pick said, “that my family enjoys the presents I got them.”

The excitement for one of the most anticipated holiday of the year has only been getting higher and higher. Utica’s students and teachers have been doing everything they can to bring the Christmas spirit in to the halls and lunchroom by passing out candy canes and even having students working at the school store dressing up as Santa Claus. At the Book Fair at Barnes and Noble the teachers had dressed up as elves and had a Santa Claus roaming around. All of these efforts seem to be working with all of the Santa hats, tinsel, and Christmas sweaters people are wearing. These festivities even has the teachers excited!

“I am over-the-top excited for Christmas!” teacher Taryn Larson said.