D-54 principal dresses up as elf to brighten students' holidays

MORRIS – When Morris Grade School Principal Dave Raffel came to District 54 a few years ago, he had an idea that might make seeing the principal not such a bad thing for his students.

Taking inspiration from the classic elf on the shelf toy, Raffel began dressing up as the "principal on a shelf," going around to classrooms in the school and creating a bit of mischief.

The act was a big hit, so he kept it up.

This year, though, Raffel has had to take a different approach because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that District 54 is in fully remote learning.

"Over the past few years, I have dressed up as principal on a shelf at school the week before break," Raffel said. "Since we are fully remote, students from each K-5 homeroom have been nominated for a visit from the principal on a shelf. The administrative team will drive around and visit their homes and deliver a holiday treat."

Raffel explained that there are 35 homerooms in kindergarten through fifth grade, and he will visit a representative from each class.

"Each teacher from the K-5 homerooms will nominate a student for the principal on a shelf to visit," he said. "It could be a student that a teacher knows needs some extra Christmas cheer this year, or it could be one that has worked extra hard.

"The admin team will map out a route, and we will have a police escort from our SRO [school resource officer] to take me to the houses. We plan on doing it all Thursday, but if we run into a delay, then we will finish Friday. We want to have this done before the holiday break."

Raffel said he enjoys playing the part of the elf and looks forward to visiting the students.

"I have been doing this, this is my fourth year," he said. "It has gotten bigger each year. The kids and the staff seem to enjoy it, and I know I enjoy getting around and seeing the kids. It's nice that the kids can see the lighter side of me and maybe not be as afraid if they have to go to the principal's office."