Plains students crack the case of the Elf on the Roof
On a cold and snowy Friday morning, Plains elementary students were presented with a perplexing puzzle. How can their school principal, Kevin Meredith, be in two places at once?
Dressed in a full elf outfit, Meredith was standing on the roof of the cafeteria. He was also standing on the playground with the children.
One child concluded it was an optical illusion. Another said the elf has a mask on that looks like Meredith.
Student Nina Austin asked Meredith, “are there two of you?
The mystery was solved — they both were Merediths.
The elf on the roof was in fact Merideth’s older identical twin brother Keith Meredith. Keith was born 20 minutes before Kevin Meredith.
The Meredith brothers have had a long history of confusing friends, teachers and students. They said they occasionally would switch classes and take tests for each other in school, but could never confuse their mother.
The elf on a shelf, or in this case, elf on a roof idea started with principal Meredith acquiring an elf costume. From that point the idea mushroomed into a series of activities for elementary school K-6 grade students called Mystery of the Elf on the Roof.
Each Friday through December, Meredith will don the elf costume and hide somewhere in the school.
Several students from each grade K-6, based on their academic achievements, will be tasked to find the Elf. In grades three and four, a writing contest about the Mystery of the Elf on the Roof will take place.
The Christmas season is full of fun events for elementary school students. The sixth-grade students are bringing in stuffed animals and wearing hats on Friday for one dollar. They are collecting the money and using it to purchase gifts for the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office Tree of Hearts Christmas gift program.
On Dec. 21, teachers will be decorating their rooms for a specific country. Students will then rotate classrooms where lessons will be taught about each of those countries.
On Dec. 22, kindergarten through fifth-graders will be treated to a Christmas movie at the Llano Theatre. School will be an early release that day also.
Plains Principal Kevin Meredith speaks with students investigating the Elf of the Roof. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)