Today we had an exciting videoconference with Santa, via the Vanderbilt Virtual School in Nashville. We were able to share him with several schools around the country. We wrote letters to Santa and we had several students (Chloe, Briana, Sameet, Mathew and Beryl) lucky enough to have their letters read and questions
answered. Santa’s helper made a comment about the excellent drawings from the students at Highlands.
During the course of our videoconference, Santa shared these fun facts with us:
Reindeer Facts
Donder and Blitzen are the oldest – their names mean thunder and lightning because they are FAST
Rudolph is the youngest one. He has a son named Barney (he also has a red nose). The red noses are just genetics at work. The most mischievous reindeer is Vixen. Reindeer are chosen by those that show initiative and can dance and hop around. They have to be trained and go through a lot of schooling. Though Santa only uses 9 reindeer, he has 30 that are ready to fly (they need breaks, you know) and 25 more are in school. They use Christmas magic to fly and lift the heavy sleigh.
Santa Facts
Santa’s parents died when he was very young and he was orphaned. He doesn’t have any children. What he
really wants for Christmas is Peace on Earth. He loves cookies and sugar cookies are his favorite. He has a very
nice sleigh with 200 lights and a stereo. He doesn’t use headphones because he’s a safe driver and he wants to concentrate. He does have a GPS. How does he reach so many homes in one night? Well, it’s a lot of planning.
He uses the time zones and the arc of the earth to make the sleigh go faster. Oh, and he adds a little Christmas magic. One child asked: “what happens if there’s no more Christmas spirit?” to which Santa replied, “If they don’t believe, Santa doesn’t mistreat them and will do his best to deliver to anyone.” In his free time, Santa likes to think about new toys, do a lot of planning for his next trip, and travel to schools and hospitals. He also likes to have snowball fights. He has whittled all his life. He used to go fishing with his dad when he was young and help tend the nets. Also, he uses doors for entry in a lot of homes (especially those without chimneys) and talks to the moms and dads that are waiting up for him but he’s very quiet so he doesn’t wake any children.
When asked how much he weighs, he replied,” about 300 pounds.” His favorite foods are broccoli and
cauliflower (cookies and candy too). He loves hot chocolate with peppermint canes and marshmallows.
His favorite book is The Night Before Christmas.
His favorite animal is the reindeer, but he also likes rabbits.
Elf Facts
There are thousands of elves. The head elf is named Mistle Tricks. Some of the elves ride on the sleigh with him. When asked if he’d ever lost one, he said, “well, one fell out once and landed head first into
a snowdrift, but he was okay.”