The idea of the elf is that a family adopts a Scout Elf, who has the important job of being Santa’s eyes and ears during the busy Christmas season. The Elf heads back to the North Pole each night to report on the children’s behavior, then returns in the morning where he will perch in a new spot in the home. If someone touches the elf it will lose its magic. Mr. Ziemer said that the idea for bringing the elf to school came from him doing “Elf on the Shelf” at home with his children. “We’ve been doing Feathers since 2021,” he said.. 

Sorry to break it to you: Santa doesn’t move the elf at New Ulm High School. The teachers do. Mr. Ziemer emails all faculty, who then can sign up for a date if they want to help hide Feathers. The goal when hiding Feathers is to have them in every wing. Feathers is meant to add something exciting to the school. The rule with Feathers is that it must be out where everyone is able to see them, not in classrooms.

Students can win by finding Feathers and scanning the QR code located on the same sheet as Feathers. Once the names get sent in Mr. Ziemer runs all of those names through a random select wheel. Once the player wins, they get called down to win their prize. The prize could be money, candy, and or accessories. “Every year, prizes are different. We don’t have the biggest budget,” Mr. Ziemer said.

But, speaking from personal winning experience, a $10 McDonald’s gift card buys 26 cookies.