Sometimes life truly is magical. Two Santas — yes, two Santas — ho-ho-hoed while handing out gifts to some 560 students at PS 188 in Coney Island on Dec. 17. “Their eyes were shining, they were ecstatic!” said Chiniza Batiste, the resource coordinator at the school, one of the UFT’s Community Learning Schools. “Their joy was something to behold!” Life hasn’t always been kind to these kids. The staff and students at this high-needs school were forced out of their building for months after Hurricane Sandy flooded the basement, ruining hard-won new furniture, the school’s new Sandra Feldman Gymnasium, textbooks and musical instruments. The school’s custodian, Bill Post, was determined that his union, Local 891, would grant these kids the kind of holiday that all kids deserve. Each year, the union chooses a needy school and throws a party for its students. This year, the gifts came to PS 188. Post was thrilled when the tractor-trailer full of presents pulled up. The auditorium was replete with decorations. Holiday music played, but not quite loud enough to drown out the chorus of childhood squeals and shouts. One 1st-grade boy had repeatedly informed his teacher that Santa was, no doubt about it, going to bring him a monster truck. The teacher knew that was a long shot. The new toys are chosen with age and gender in mind but, beyond that, no promises. “So he opens his present and it’s a monster truck,” said Batiste. “He was beside himself. We were amazed. He was not.” Pure magic, to be sure. “I feel so proud of the whole effort and all the people involved in it,” said Post. “Today we’re all Santas!”