Although many of us might be fresh out of ideas of ways to keep our children entertained during this pandemic, brace yourselves – winter break is nearly here, and more down time is around the corner. 

If we rewind the clock, surely we all remember looking forward to blocks of time off from school. So, with our own happy memories of days off from school in mind, it’s time to make our own children’s days off from school just as memorable. 

As we are now in the last month of an unusually challenging year, it’s understandable the anticipation of the new year ahead now more than ever before. However, before they usher in a brand new year, Christians across the globe are currently celebrating Advent – the coming of Christ – signifying the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day. 

Amid the holiday hustle and bustle, there are many fun and meaningful ways that families can connect to celebrate Advent together this month before Christmas morning arrives. 

Extra, extra, this just in! We intercepted an important letter (really, tiny handwriting, actually) here at OKS from Bernard, the Chief Technology Elf at the North Pole! He accidentally forwarded our school’s Marketing and Communications office a top secret letter that was indented for Santa!

We could not wait to share this hot off the presses from the elf factory. We don’t want you to miss out on this important holiday information – the best technology gifts of 2020. Hint, hint: Black Friday is coming!

As the cooler months arrive and with the holidays on the mind, many families start discussions within their own homes about what they are thankful for and how to serve the most vulnerable in their communities. In fact, statistics say that 30 percent of annual giving occurs in December and 10 percent occurs on the last three days of the year. 

Although parents, caregivers and schools should be discussing ways to give back to others all year long, here are some helpful ways to serve others this Holiday season, while safely navigating COVID-19.

Another memo to Santa was left on the Helpdesk printer this year. It seems Toy Town Industries is vying for Santa's business ahead of Black Friday again. We don't know why Santa's memos keep getting redirected to Oak Knoll, but we would be remiss if we did not share the scoop on this year's hottest educational toys as our very own 2019 Tech Gift Guide for Kids in time for Black Friday! 

Every so often, it’s interesting to see another perspective. We are pretty sure that this response that the technology department received was not intended to be a "REPLY-ALL," but it sure does provide a lot of insight for the coming holiday season. We will be using our @OKSTECH twitter account to follow companies and retweet deals as we get them, so stay tuned.

We found this document on the network printer near the tech office. We’re pretty sure this will help during the holiday shopping season (especially this weekend, hint, hint!). Just don’t tell anyone where you got the information from, as we don’t want to get our helpdesk folks in trouble!

The sun is setting earlier, the temperatures are cooling and the holidays are right around the corner. There’s no better time than now to think about giving back to those less fortunate who could benefit from a helping hand — be it for warmth, food, shelter or holiday cheer.

This letter to Santa Claus was found this morning on the printer in the Oak Knoll Help Desk. In order to make sure it makes it to Santa in time for him to take advantage of some of the shopping deals that are being advertised, we are posting it here. Maybe it can also help spark an idea or two for those who are never sure what to get for the holidays.