The Holiday Gift Exchange kept volunteers busy wrapping the gifts picked out for their family members by students at WMES on Dec. 13. (Healey photo)

WAVERLEY: Students at Waverley Memorial School had the opportunity to pick out the perfect gift for their family members on Dec. 13.

Teacher Dana Johnson is the brains behind the yearly event, which first started 14 years ago when she began teaching at the school.

“I did it in my own classroom that first year,” said Johnson.

The following year it expanded to all the building Johnson’s classroom was in at the former WM LC Skerry school on Rocky Lake Drive.

“It ballooned from there and since then it has been a school-wide event,” she said.

On this day, students in Grade Primary were out getting gifts they thought would be well received for their family members. One young boy picked out a Barbie doll for his brother, who is a few years older then him. That is sure to create a good Christmas memory for that family on Christmas morning.

Johnson said the Holiday Gift Exchange is definitely her favourite event at WMES.

“It’s so fun watching the children pick out the perfect gift for their family,” she said. “They get so excited.

“I can only imagine the surprises and laughs that are had on Christmas morning.”