Narrator: This is Santa school.
Narrator: Every fall, more than 200
Mr. and Mrs. Clauses from around the world
arrive in a small Michigan town
to learn everything from singing ...
♪ All of the other reindeer ♪
to American Sign Language.
Ho, ho, ho, ho!
Tom Valent: The Charles W. Howard school
is the oldest Santa Claus school in the world.
Ho, ho, ho!
We have Santas kind of go pretty much everywhere,
from commercials
to the Rockettes in New York City
to Macy's Day Parade.
Narrator: The three-day course
costs $580 for new students
and $550 for returning students.
And candidates are admitted
on a first come, first serve basis
to master the Santa Claus look, sound, and act.
Joe: You're literally ready for anything
after the school year.
Tom: Santa's the most well-known character in the world.
Narrator: The red suit first appeared around 1930.
That's what we all try to achieve.
The white beard, the red nose,
the happy cheek, and a belly full of jelly.
Narrator: And in 1937,
the Santa school was founded by Charles W. Howard,
a Santa for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Announcer: The man of the hour, Santa Claus!
Santa: Hello, everybody!
Ho, ho, ho, ho!
This is blush.
This gives you a little color,
and you really only need it on the tip of your nose
and on the high part of your cheek.
We just want, you know,
nice, clean, and sharp-looking Santa.
Make sure your belt stays up high
and doesn't go down underneath your belly,
so it's holding your belly up.
Narrator: Originally, students at the Santa school
wore artificial beards made of yak hair.
Merry Christmas, boys and girls.
Merry Christmas, kids.
Narrator: But Santa beards,
especially when made of real hair,
can come at a price.
Tom: The good ones, you're in the $2,000 range
for a nice, beautiful set of hair.
Narrator: Having a real beard
does offer more authenticity in the photos,
but the cost of being Santa can add up.
I made some investments.
Right now I'm sitting between $4,000 and $5,000.
Between the hotel and the school, transportation,
having work done professionally on my beard,
having to buy several Santa suits,
it's a big piece of change.
Narrator: But looking like Santa
is much more than makeup and a beard.
Dancing like Santa is also a skill,
starting with the basics.
Instructor: When in doubt, super simple.
We can step, touch. Yeah?
Narrator: Students are taught dance moves
specific to Santa,
like going down the chimney and hanging tinsel on a tree.
Santa student: Tinsel on the tree! [laughing]
Instructor: All I want us to do is turn on some music,
and let's do some stuff.
Narrator: Next, the Santa sound.
Santa: To all a good night!
It's a little bit darker than the normal speaking voice.
It's a little more robust,
maybe a little bit further back in the throat.
Santa: Merry Christmas!
On, Donner. Ha, ha, ha, ha!
Narrator: The school brings in a voice teacher
to help Santas use, but not lose their voices.
They're at it several hours a day from, you know,
Thanksgiving until New Year's.
I'd also say too, softer is not necessarily better.
Whispering can actually take that vocal fuel
even more quickly than talking in certain situations.
Narrator: And when it comes to singing ...
[tuner sounding]
♪ So, there's a C ♪
Using a pitch pipe is going to help ensure consistency.
♪ Dashing through the snow ♪
♪ In a one-horse open sleigh ♪
If you sing something in the same key a million times,
eventually your brain will just hear it that way.
♪ Santa Claus is coming to town ♪
Narrator: Santas also learn a variety of words
and phrases in American Sign Language.
Last year, a young girl came with her family
that had special needs.
She really couldn't talk.
She kind of stood away,
she wasn't really comfortable coming close to me.
And I asked her dad, I said, "Does she sign?"
And he says, "Yeah, she does."
So I did Merry Christmas to her in sign,
and she came right up to me.
She sat on my knee, and he took pictures,
and everything was great.
If Santa can sign with them, wow!
That is like the top for them.
They're so excited.
They need to know that Santa loves them too.
♪ We wish you ♪
♪ A Merry Christmas ♪
♪ And a happy New Year ♪
Narrator: Once students master Santa's look and sound,
it's time to put it all into practice and become Santa.
Narrator: A professional Santa
must be skilled in improvisation.
Things can go wrong.
Your hat can fall off, your mustache can fall off,
your beard could get tugged down.
Santa: Holy peppermint sticks, am I happy to see you guys!
Narrator: Every year, a local kindergarten class
visits the Santa school,
and students can observe how to answer kids' questions.
'Cause you never know what the little ones are going to ask.
Tom: What we tell the kids is, and the teachers,
that is a Santa cousin reunion.
So that's what the little ones think.
Some of these guys, they get some good ideas
and really build that confidence.
"OK, this is the character I'm playing,
these are the things that Santa says."
Narrator: The week concludes with a formal graduation,
where students receive a diploma.
After graduating, the Santas move on to their upcoming gigs.
They might be booked by photographers for photo sessions ...
My work with a photographer starts on the Friday
after next week.
Narrator: Or be mall Santas.
Mike: And then about the middle of November,
I am sitting in the seat at a mall back in Philadelphia.
Narrator: The average rate for a professional Santa
is roughly $150 an hour in the United States,
with mall Santas on the low end of that scale,
averaging at $30 an hour.
I do it because I just love it.
I believe that kids need to have
a little joy in their life, especially now.
To me, it's just a great privilege.
Again, it's a privilege to be Santa,
it's not a job.