Santa Claus paid an early Christmas visit to Oak Grove Primary School last week, providing books to each of the 800 students in Pre-K through first grade.
St. Nick, accompanied by primary school librarian Haley Ladner, stopped by each classroom at the school Friday to ensure that every child had at least one book to take home for the holidays.
“A lot of kids don’t have any books at home, so just giving them one is great,” Ladner said. “And also, kind of the way the world is going, a lot of people don’t value books any more – they just read online or whatever, which is fine.
“But especially little kids, they need the feel of the actual book, and to be able to see the words and the front cover and the back cover, so we just really wanted to make sure every kid had at least one book so they could do those things. We teach them those skills at school, but if they don’t have them at home, (they need that too).”
Although the teachers had been made aware of Santa’s visit in advance, it was a surprise for the students, many of whom were overjoyed to see the North Pole’s most famous resident.
“I was a little excited and a little unsure, because I didn’t know Santa was coming,” said Connor Vanderheiden of Mrs. Bass’s class. “But I was happy he came.”
Aidyn Claire Morris of Ms. Kay’s class also was excited to see Santa.
“I was so happy because he was so sweet to me by giving me a book,” Morris said.
And seeing the smile on the kids’ faces warmed Ladner’s heart as well.
“It was so exciting, especially to see the ones that were like, ‘Santa, I saw you yesterday’ (at the book fair),” Ladner said. “Some of them are really excited about getting the books too, which really made me happy. I think it turned out great – I was happy with it.”
This year marks the first time Oak Grove Primary officials have held the book giveaway, which was made possible by funds from a book fair held the day before. Given the success of this year’s event, it’s likely to continue every year from here on out.
“Hopefully, this will be a new tradition for us,” Ladner said.
