Once upon a November day, I was filled with a brilliant idea. I wondered if I could raise high school students’ holiday spirit with a simple holiday contest that involved finding a cute little elf, and being rewarded with candy. That is why I invited my new friend, Buddy Buddy the Elf, to come to LHS the week after Thanksgiving. I dubbed this idea “The Elf Experiment.”

When I first launched the Elf experiment, I figured it would generate some sort of buzz. Tweets, pictures and many visits to the Student Council window proved my thoughts correct. But I had no idea the type of adventure I was actually in for.

The first three days of the project went pretty well. Many students found Buddy Buddy, got their candy for revealing his location of the day and were filled with holiday spirit. For the first couple days, the most trouble that Buddy Buddy went through was that someone put him in a headstand position. It was a good thing that Buddy Buddy had some natural flexibility! Generally, the student body was excited about the contest. One hundred and twenty eight people officially came to the STUCO window to receive candy during the first three days.

But things took a turn for the scandalous on Thursday.

Buddy Buddy was left in the robot newsbin in the rotunda (his location for the contest that day) after school. My fellow colleague on the Budget staff had not had the time to collect Buddy Buddy after lunch and thus he was left in the bin. Somehow Buddy Buddy went from being in the newsbin after school to the girls restroom over by Latin teacher Jason Litche’s room.

Since the Budget staff hadn’t gotten a hold of Buddy Buddy, and because he was in the bathroom, he was not in his Thursday location for the contest and chaos ensued. After talking to student council members and finding out he was in the girls’ bathroom, I searched every girls bathroom in LHS. He was nowhere to be found. Buddy Buddy was officially missing in action.

I tried to pick up any leads. It wasn’t until the end of the day Thursday when a friend told me she had seen Buddy in a backpack that I had any clues as to where Buddy might be. Since it sounded like Buddy had gone home with someone else, the contest seemed like it was off for good.

I began to grow quite distraught. My adorable Buddy Buddy was gone. Would somebody really want to be that cruel to crush the rising holiday spirit? I didn’t know what to think.

Thankfully, during my newspaper hour on Friday, things changed. I found someone who had a lead. Freshman Elliott Abromeit had seen Buddy Buddy in a fellow classmates backpack. Abromeit walked into his class and asked if anybody knew anything about Buddy Buddy the Elf. Apparently, Buddy Buddy was in a freshman’s backpack. About 30 seconds later, he came back out with Buddy Buddy in hand and said, “Here you go!” Buddy Buddy was officially back in my possession and I was stunned by the turn of events.

Although the contest ended up not occurring on Thursday and Friday, the experiment seemed to do its job. Holiday spirit was increased according to many people and even without Buddy, many students still enjoyed at least getting some sugar. And despite the fact Buddy Buddy was taken, he was returned.

I am glad to say that LHS students are quite cheerful and that when in doubt, they do do the right thing. If that doesn’t increase your holiday spirit, I really don’t know what else will.