The Harvard of Santa Claus Schools

If one dreams of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or an atomic physicist the road to attaining these professional goals is by attending school.  But if one’s goal is to spread yuletide cheer by becoming a professional Santa Claus, what is one to do?

The answer exists right here in our own back yard in the form of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School, which is now celebrating its 88^th year and was established back in 1937 by a farmer from Albion, New York named Charles W. Howard.  Displeased with seeing so many Santa’s in Frayed suits, cheap beards, and possessing a shocking lack of knowledge about reindeer, he decided he could make a better Santa by starting a school..

The first class consisted of three men, including a welder from New Jersey, his friend, and a neighbor. Charles eventually had a Christmas-themed park with several barns, a train, and some reindeer. Children from miles around would visit, including Tom Valent, originally from Salamanca, about an hour's drive from Albion.

The school was taken over by Nate Doan in the 1960s, another famous Santa who, in 1968, moved the school to none other than Bay City, Michigan. Tom attended the CWH Santa School in 1975 when he was expecting his first child.  Today, the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School continues running under the direction of Tom and Holly Valent. It is carried on in Midland, Michigan, with an eager student body of about 300 joyful and jolly new and returning students each year.

"As a little girl, I sat on Charles Howard's lap, too," recalls Holly Valent. "We were from a small town. Every child wanted to go to Christmas Park." From 1948 to 1965, Charles Howard was the featured Santa Claus in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, perhaps the most visible Santa in the United States.

Since 1937, the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School has taught its students to be jolly old souls.  Back when Charles Howard founded the school, “there was a need for better Santa’s,” Valent ex[lains. Apparently some of the prospective candidates for the role thought they were auditioning for the film Bad Santa. “Some of the Santa characters were apparently pretty rough, smoking and drinking … I believe that was a bigger problem back then.”

This point also helps explain why the classic 1947 Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street opens with a Santa who’s too drunk to ride in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and is soon replaced by a much more capable Claus. According to Valent, Howard was an advisor on that film.

Most of the people signing up for classes at Santa School do so because they harbor a commitment to excellence, with students learning skills like reindeer handling, simple sign language, and how to take care of a beard, real or fake.

Before becoming the school’s dean in the 1980s, Valent was a student there. And he still loves playing the role of Santa Claus in his community.  “My first love is sitting in that chair and being Santa,” he says. But he decided to take over the school because he saw it as a way to help children by making sure they got a good visit with Santa.

“That Santa visit is so important, because as a child most people don’t forget sitting on Santa’s knee,” he reflects. “They won’t remember what they asked for, probably—but they’re gonna remember Santa.”

Included in the course curriculum are such important topics as learning about the legend of Santa Claus, learning the names of all his elves, practicing reindeer-handling and sleigh driving, and of course making and creating toys.

While the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School is not the only training program for aspiring Santa’s as other Santa Schools exist in Calgary, Alberta; the International University of Santa Claus; and the Professional Santa Claus School in Denver, the CWH school here in Mid-Michigan prides itself upon being the longest continuously running Santa school in the world.

Charles W. Howard was an actor and lifelong Santa. The school’s website quotes him as saying, “He errs who thinks Santa enters through the chimney. Santa enters through the heart.”

When Howard died in 1966, two of his students, Mary Ida Doan and her husband Nate, took it over and moved the school to Michigan. Mary Ida Doan still holds the school’s record for perfect attendance; 2015 was her 57th year. “It’s like a reunion,” she says. “My October wouldn’t be the same without it.”

Tom and Holly Valent started coming in the 1970s, and they loved the school so much they began managing it when the Doans were ready to retire. In 1987, Tom worked with architect Steve Barstow to design and build the Santa House in Midland.

The Santa House, the school’s spiritual home, is a magical place. Stepping inside is like entering Santa’s toy shop, complete with the smell of peppermint and the sounds of elves hard at work. Every year Tom, a contractor by trade and owner of Gerace Construction in Midland, adds a new feature.

These days the school can only use the Santa House for its smaller classes, when newcomers and returning alumni split up. Enrollment has grown to include some 125 Santa’s and Mrs. Clauses each year.

For three days in October, participants take classes on things like sign language, reindeer-handling and how to apply makeup. They learn to do live television interviews, dance like an elf and give a proper “Ho ho ho!”

It’s basically the Harvard of Santa schools, the Santa's say. Having this place on your résumé can get you a job anywhere.  Each Santa has to fill out an application and explain why they want to attend the school. About half the Santas who are accepted are professionals, the Valents say, and the rest portray Santa for charities, churches or in their  communities. 

The Santa’s also  get a lesson on how to properly care for their beards, including rubbing peppermint oil in it to add a comforting smell. Those who don't have a natural beard can be fitted for an artificial wig and/or beard that costs between $1,100 and $1,800.

"Mrs. Claus can be so important today," notes Holly Valent, Tom's wife and his Mrs. Claus. "To show children that there's a loving relationship between a husband and wife, because there's so many children today that do not ever see a loving relationship at home. If they can see it in Santa and Mrs. Claus once in a lifetime, they know it's out there."

Each Santa has to fill out an application and explain why they want to attend the school. About half the Santa’s who are accepted are professionals, the Valents say, and the rest portray Santa for charities, churches or in their  communities.

The history of St. Nicholas is important for every Santa to learn, Tom Valent says. "Know who you are," he tells the Santa’s. "Know your legend. Know where you came from."