UPDATED AT 2:50 p.m. 

Every holiday season, the students in the Culinary Arts Department at Somerville High School make dozens and dozens of holiday themed cookies. 

(Click the photo on the right for a behind the scenes look!)

Sugar cookies shaped into stars, stockings and holiday trees, as well as coconut macaroons, red and green Italian butter cookies and cheese jelly cookies are among the offerings. 

It's a tradition that has been around for more than two decades, said Baking Instructor Richard Brunet. 

Mischa Barker, Lindsay Galvin and Sandro Joseph, are just three of the more than 50 students who have spent days preparing the 60 orders that came in. 

That's at least 3,100 hundred cookies that will pass through the school's baking racks and ovens said Brunet. 

Not only do the high school students bake for the public, he explained, but they also bake gingerbread men for children in the younger grades to decorate in their classes. That adds another several hundred cookies to the grand total. 

All of the cookies are entirely produced by the students, though Brunet does inspect each batch as it comes out of the oven. 

The crew gets to work on learning the holiday baking techniques for the cookies, as soon as pie season ends in November. 

Pickup takes place at the high school today, Dec. 22. from 12 p.m. to  2 p.m.

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For all of you last minute shoppers out there...

Grand, in Union Square is hosting special late-night shopping hours tonight, Dec. 22. The store will be open until 9 p.m. tonight. 

Santa Claus will be on hand and a few adult beverages will be available for shoppers of age. For more information, please see the Facebook event here. 

The Taza Chocolate Factory Store will also be open for extended hours during the holidays. Plus, they're giving away free hot chocolate to sweeten the deal! Click here for more information.