Grade one students had an extra special treat in their religion class on Friday afternoon — an exciting visit, book sharing, craft activity, and donut treat provided by the Upper School Bible Club. The club co-chairs read aloud a picture book entitled The First Easter Ever, and then club members distributed Bible bookmarks. The students enjoyed decorating them with magic markers while members of the Bible Study Club mingled with them and assisted. One of the significant advantages of attending a PK to 12 school is that inter-grade-level activities like this can be arranged so quickly and provide the younger students with role models to nurture them academically and socially.

The First Easter Ever is a holiday favorite for young children. With colorful illustrations by Dennis Jones, it recounts the Easter story, from explaining Jesus’s ministry to his time in the garden of Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his coming back to life. After the reading, students enjoyed Dunkin Donut munchkins while they customized their new colorful bookmarks.

“We decided on an Easter book since that was a recent significant religious event,” said Grace Koetje ’25. “This one has lots of good pictures too.”

Koetje and Charlotte Isabel ’25 co-founded the Bible Study Club during their grade 9 years at Oak Knoll. As we covered in a podcast earlier this year, it is one of a plethora of student-founded clubs in the Upper School. The club meets once a cycle to discuss a bible verse, enjoy fellowship, or complete small service projects. This is the first of what we hope will be regular interactions between the Bible Study Club and the Lower School.