Holiday connection: Barrie first-graders correspond with elves

By Kim McDarison

Two first-grade teachers at Barrie Elementary School wasted no time Wednesday afternoon. 

Therese Okray and Carissa Koehler were charged with a very special mission: making sure letters written by 45 of their students arrived at the post office in time to make a journey to the North Pole — and, equally as important — with enough time allotted that after their arrival, Santa’s elves might find time to respond before the children leave school for Christmas break. 

The elves are really busy this time of year, Okray said, but, each year, student’s, thus far, have received the anticipated response. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the teachers, each donning elven-styled clothing befitting the importance of their task, prepared the letters with care. Together, they worked like a well-oiled holiday machine, retrieving some of the letters from a small mailbox, and packaging them for travel. 

Corresponding with elves has been a part of the first-grade writing curriculum at Barrie Elementary School for more than 30 years, the teachers said. Okray said she has been involved in the activity for some 15 years and Koehler said she has been a keeper of the holiday trust for six. 

This year, before the letters left the school building, the teachers shared them with Fort Atkinson Online, responding to our query: What do first-graders learn when they correspond with elves?

The importance of letter-writing

Letter-writing is part of the school district’s first-grade curriculum, Koehler said. 

The letters serve multiple purposes. Of course there is the purpose of learning about the elves, but the activity is used to help teach first-grade students how to write a letter, Okray said, adding that the writing assignment focusing on writing a first letter is introduced to the first-graders after they return from Thanksgiving break.  

This is their first exposure to writing a letter. Students learn about the parts of a letter — its greeting, body and closing — and they are asked to write the letter to an elf, she said.  

Koehler said the exercise also is used to get the students to learn to think in terms of asking questions.

“They learn to think outside of themselves a little bit,” she said. 

The teachers agreed that the majority of first-graders will have their eye to the sky, watching for Santa as he makes his Christmas Eve flight. 

Koehler said many of the students have a “scout elf” at home. As part of the writing assignment, they are offered the choice of writing to the elf in their home, or one at the North Pole. 

Part of the Christmas experience is that letters, which are all sent to the North Pole, can still find their way to an elf at home. 

Some of the letters are addressed with names because that student has an elf at home and it has a name, Okray said. 

Elves visiting at home serve different functions, Koehler explained. Some get into mischief, moving from place to place within the home at night while family members sleep. Some report back to Santa. 

As part of the assignment, the students are asked to introduce themselves, and give a fact about themselves. They might include something they are hoping to receive for Christmas, Okray said.  

She said she suggests to her students that they ask something they always wanted to know about Santa, his reindeer or the North Pole. 

The students spend about an hour each day for about a week working on their letters, the teachers said.  

They begin with a draft, making edits and refining their letters, until they are ready to create a final draft, which is the one that is mailed to the elves, the teachers explained.  

The final draft includes the proper use of capitalization and punctuation, and while the students are not graded on their letters, the teachers said they offer them an informative assessment so they see how each student has grasped the concepts included within letter-writing. 

What questions do youngsters ask? 

As the students work on their letters, they sometimes ask questions, Okray said. 

One student asked how a mail carrier was able to deliver letters to Santa, believing the North Pole was in the sky. 

Okray explained to the student that the North Pole is a place on the surface of the Earth. She pointed it out on a map, she said.  

Within their letters, children asked elves about their ages, and jobs, and if they could be their friends. 

As the children worked to finish their letters, the teachers reminded them that a deadline was fast approaching by which the letters needed to be mailed in order to allow enough time for elves to receive the letters and offer a reply before Christmas. 

The students understand that anybody can send mail to Santa, Okray said, adding that she and Koehler explain to the students that their job is simply to deliver the mail. 

In Okray’s room, completed letters are placed in a mailbox, marked with the address: “Santa Claus, Reindeer Ranch, The North Pole.” 

Building excitement 

Seated within Okray’s festively decorated classroom, and dressed in holiday attire, the teachers said each year, as Christmas approaches, Barrie Elementary School is filled with exuberant energy. 

This year, Okray said, the school’s Christmas program was held on Dec. 6. There was a holiday concert performed that day and night at the performing arts center at the Fort Atkinson High School. Most of the students attended both performances. 

“Right after that, that’s when the energy goes up,” Okray said. 

Koehler described the performance as a sort of holiday “kickoff.” 

After the performance, Okray said, she decorates her classroom. 

When the students return to the classroom, she said, her ambition is to make it special. 

“I have Christmas music playing and we turn the lights off,” she said.

On Wednesday, holiday lights glowed from within the classroom’s reading nook. 

Okray admitted that she likes the Christmas energy the kids bring to school. 

Receiving a response

The process by which the letters are returned is always a mystery, the teachers said. In past years, the school secretary or a member of the school office staff has stumbled across an envelop addressed to the first-graders found outside of the school building. 

It is often covered in snow and very cold, Okray explained, adding that it is very cold in the North Pole. 

An excited staff member rushes the package to the first-grade students, delighted to have made the discovery. 

Typically, the letters have been returned on the last day of school before Christmas Break, Okray said. This year, that will be Dec. 22. 

Once the letters are received, students from one third-grade class and one fifth-grade class come to help the first-graders read the responses they have received from the elves. 

Describing the excitement of receiving and reading the letters, Okray said: “that’s a level 10.” 

When the package arrives, the first-graders all want to touch it, she said. 

“Somebody is licking it,” Koehler said, adding: “It’s North Pole snow!” 

A holiday gift

While the children wrote their thoughts to elves, their letters are sources of wisdom. For those still shopping for a holiday gift, letters offer suggestions. 

One might wonder why the teachers dressed so elaborately to package their letters. As Okray noted: Anyone can send a letter to Santa. The teachers serve only to deliver packages to the post. But every boy and girl knows that Santa and his elves are always watching, and they are attracted to holiday cheer. 

Perhaps it’s that cheer that creates the magic that brings connectivity between students, Santa and elves. 

Quoting poet and philosopher Samual Taylor Coleridge, Okray pointed to his concept: the “suspension of disbelief,” written in 1817, which suggests that if a writer can infuse human interest and a semblance of truth into a fantastical tale, the reader will suspend judgement concerning the implausibility of the story. 

Perhaps suspending disbelief — being the antithesis of belief — is a gift of Christmas. 

Click on the image below to read letters written by Barrie Elementary School first-grade students.