A number of Union Elementary School’s youngest students have breathlessly reported sightings of a large elf to teachers and staff. The reports reflect childhood innocence and the Christmas spirit of Chris Dunlap, Union Elementary School’s principal.

Dunlap is dressing up in a red and white costume and then appearing unannounced throughout the school grounds, portraying an Elf on the Shelf, one of Santa’s scouts who covertly checks on children to see if they are being naughty or nice.

Nobody knows where Santa’s helper will appear next, but he was last seen Monday afternoon atop Union High School’s main building waving at fifth graders going to music class. He first appeared last week near Union Elementary’s primary grade playground. The two children who saw him first had opposite reactions.

“One stopped, looked and pointed, and another took off in the other direction,” said Brandi Tobin, a teacher’s aide for Union Elementary School’s kindergarten class.

Children then rushed over to see the large elf.

“Some did not want to touch him because they were afraid he would lose his magic and then he couldn’t fly,” Tobin said. “Others were all over him.”

The fear that he would lose his magic if touched stems from the book “The Elf on the Shelf” by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell. The book, written in rhyme, tells of scout elves who come from the North Pole to find out for Santa who has been bad or good. Aebersold and Bell’s book tells of how the elf’s magic might disappear if the scout elf is touched.

A number of Union Elementary School students have read the book, said Union School District Office Manager Deb Titus.

Titus likely will never forget the initial reaction a student had to the elf’s first appearance.

“It was so cute. A girl came in and said, ‘Is Mr. Dunlap in? There is a giant elf on the playground,” Titus said.

Some older students suspect that the elf is Dunlap. Titus said they came into the elementary school office and wanted to know where Dunlap had been when the elf was spotted.

The question remains unresolved, however, in Union Elementary’s kindergarten class.

“There is a debate going on. ‘Is it Mr. Dunlap or an elf?’ It is about 50-50,” Dunlap said.

The good-natured principal, who has short brown hair, said that the curly gray hair of his costume helps to keep the children from recognizing him.

The costume he wears was made by Jo Crow and Sonja Hibbert of Jo’s Fabric & Craft in Union. Crow, the owner of the business, and Hibbert donated their labor in making the body of the costume. The bright costume was easily seen from many parts of Union Elementary’s campus Monday afternoon while the elf was on top of the high school’s roof. Dunlap said it may have looked dangerous, with him standing about six feet from the edge, but he felt secure because of a lip of bricks about two feet high along the edge.

Dunlap admitted that he got a little cold while standing atop the high school, but he said it was worth it because of the excited reaction from the younger students who saw him.

“It brightens up their day a little,” he said

Linda Bond, a substitute teacher working at Union Elementary on Monday, was impressed with the effort Dunlap made to reach out to students.

“I think it is wonderful how he is engaging with the kids,” she said.

Tobin said that the reactions Dunlap receives as an Elf on the Shelf made her remember again what it was like to be a child.

“You forget that as an adult. You lose that magic. You forget the pure joy of being a kid,” Tobin said.