Greetings one and all!

Today marks 9 months until Christmas Eve. Can you believe how quickly the time is going?

Believe it or not, we are entering the dark days of Christmas for the year. Officially, between the middle of March through the first part of May, it is the “slow season” at the North Pole. This is the time of year when people think or do anything about Christmas.

We don’t know why that is. But it is true. The mail to Santa slows down at this time of the year. We see fewer requests come in to the North Pole. Everyone it seems is focused on something else.

So this is the time of year when Santa sends us, his elves, to school. We have the time now to get some valuable training. And we ALL go back to school.

Some go to the Southern North Pole University while others are sent to the Institute for Merriness Studies. Some elves are assigned to The Christmas Academy and others go to the very strict North Pole Flight Command School of Reindeer Aerodynamics. Some even go to the Reindeer Ranch, a special school that instructs on the care, feeding and flight of reindeer.

There are lots of places here at the North Pole for elves to go to school.

This year I am serving as an instructor at The Christmas Academy. It has been many years since I have taught a course, so I’m a little nervous. I’m teaching Santa History this year, a course vital for all elves to take and to understand.

It is a big honor for me to teach this course.

Santa also has many teaching duties this year. But he is specializing this year at the Reindeer Ranch. I want to take one of his classes – about naming reindeer – but my schedule at the Academy doesn’t work out well with Santa’s at the ranch. So I have to take the class online. Taking the class online, especially with the videos that Santa posts, is fun but it just isn’t the same as being there in person. Santa is an awesome teacher.

Elves spend this time of the year to master essential skills in being an elf. We study all kinds of topics. We study toy making, the use of tools, the science of stockings and the art of Christmas tree decoration. We study cultures and service. We hit the books to keep sharp in mathematics and languages. There is no shortage of needs when it comes to elf education.

Does this mean there are not elves working on Christmas stuff right now?

Yes, it means we are NOT making toys right now. The workshop is dark.

Santa insists that school is more important than production right now.

But that doesn’t mean we will have a problem catching up later. We do this every year.

Elf school will continue for several more weeks. Then the real fun begins at the North Pole. I’ll tell you more about that next month.