Eagle Grove Elementary English Language Learner (ELL) teacher Molly Wilson has been bringing some holiday fun to the hallways of the school for several years now, but perhaps it's never been needed more than it has been this year. Having some sense of "normalcy" in an anything but "normal" year has brought a heightened joy and excitement to the kids, and let's be honest, the teachers and staff, too.
"Jingles" the elf made his return to Eagle Grove Elementary on the day kids returned back from Thanksgiving break, compliments (unknown to the kids) of Wilson. She said she saw online several years ago a high school that was hiding an Elf on the Shelf, giving clues to students so they could take a "Selfie with an Elfie" when they found him. Eagle Grove High School has actually done this in the past as well.
"I had an Elf named Jingle who had visited my classroom for a couple years, but I thought it would be even better if more students could enjoy the hunt," said Wilson after seeing the post that gave her inspiration to hide him for the whole school to search and find instead of just "her" students.
The first year it was a huge hit, and before she even knew it, these simple clues "morphed" into multiple stanzas of rhyming as she refers to it. She usually has some sort of theme for each clue so however many lines (or stanzas) it takes, that's what she writes. She also revolves the clue around a particular person or place that has some sort of positive influence. After all, being "positive and uplifting" in order to encourage students to be good and do good around the school. This year, however, she also wants her clues and his hiding spots to be uplifting as well.
Students know that Wilson is Jingle's helper, so she loves it when they come to her and ask questions about the clues or talk to her about the little Elf on the Shelf. But of course, if they ask her too specific of a question, she answers, "I don't know. I'm only Jingle's helper."
Wilson writes all the clues from Jingle's perspective, based on what he sees and hears in the school each day. This makes it even more exciting for the kids. Wilson said she usually tries to write a week's worth of clues at one sitting which usually takes her about an hour.
"Probably the hardest time for writing clues towards the end of the season as I try to keep being creative and not sound repetitive," said Wilson.
Jingle is also never repetative in where he hides each morning. He might be in the same room, but never the same location, same person, or same theme.
Jingle's clues are read over the intercom after morning announcements have been finished. Wilson also sends them out in an email to each teacher so they can be read aloud in each classroom.
"I have been fortunate that I have been able to read them myself all these years, even though it was doubtful a few different times," said Wilson. "A couple of times I had a bad case of laryngitis and I didn't have much of a voice so kids really had to listen hard."
A sample of this year's clues include:
Today is already Thursday, my first week here is almost done!
But there are still three more weeks to have lots of fun!
I know we're all trying to figure out what is best,
As we navigate the holidays during this COVID19quest!
I know for many of you, not seeing family is hard,
But keeping others healthy is what we must guard!
Wearing our mask (Jingle has his) and staying apart,
Is what we must do to show we are smart!
Another smart cookie and also quite talented,
Has made herself a room for artist's to spread.
What once was an open space for groups to gather and meet,
Has turned into a creative spot that you just can't beat!
The art teacher Ms. Erdman has a flair to excite a young one,
To experiment with colors and creative ideas that stun.
So even though art projects decorate your halls,
I'm hiding near where your inner artist will call!
Wilson is also very grateful for how wonderful the teachers are about allowing the kids time to search for Jingle. They usually let them go search right away in the morning before the hustle and bustle of the busy learning day begins. Even when they are substitute teachers, she notices that the students won't let them forget about the Elf they are looking for.
When Wilson first started sharing Jingle, she used to put out pieces of paper with pencils for students to sign when they found Jingle. They would put that paper in a jar and at the end of the day she quickly discovered the littler the student, the bigger piece of paper they needed…and she didn't always know which teacher a student belonged to.
"Another 'aha' moment happened a couple of years ago when I started having ELL Newcomer groups. Teachers wanted to be sure and include them in this fun tradition, but these new students didn't know the names of their teachers (nor did many kindergarten or first grade students). So I printed up Christmas symbols representing each teacher's classroom and posted it outside their rooms," explained Wilson. "Teachers would show students what their Christmas picture was so they could look for that symbol on the slips of paper instead of trying to figure out teachers' names."
This year, things got changed up again due to COVID. As a safety precaution, Wilson didn't want students sharing pencils or clustering around Jingle's location. So instead, she got a list of student names from each teacher, printed them off, cut them out, and put them into an envelope for each teacher before Thanksgiving break. Now, when a student comes to find Jingle, they have a slip with their name already on it that they put into a basket without having to touch anything or spend any time by the basket. All classrooms who have students find Jingle have their names thrown in a jar and a winning classroom is chosen.
Since there are hundreds of students at Eagle Grove Elementary, prizes can't be very expensive. Older students usually receive things like bookmarks, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, pens, highlighters or little notebooks. The younger kids get to enjoy things like pencils, earasers, and bookmarks too, but they also get fuzzy animals/characters to put onto the backpacks, magnetic animal clips, or finger puppets.
"Throughout the year I keep my eyes open for internet specials on certain websites for items from Dr. Seuss characters to Elf on the Shelf accessories," said Wilson.
But inevitably, prices always seem to climb and there are more students to buy prizes for. It can be a little expensive for her, but Wilson says it is money well spent.
"It's so worth it for me to see joy in so many kids, especially the ones who won't get much during the holidays. It's just my little contribution," she said.
Wilson does this to spread joy to the students of Eagle Grove, but it always makes her feel marvelous too.
"I enjoy most everything about doing Jingle," she said. "I love being creative, writing the clues, trying to find new and interesting places for Jingle (to hide). I love seeing the excitement and fun that the students have when they are trying to find him. And especially, the pure joy when they've found him and get to put their name into the jar or basket."
Wilson said that the classroom teachers get pretty excited too when one of their students' names gets picked.
"The classes, no matter what grade, let out a cheer when they hear that they were chosen and the selected student is a hero for the day by winning prizes for their classmates," she said. "It's just really neat to see each year. I haven't gotten tired of it yet."
