WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (WENY) -- Students at Watkins Glen Central School District received a holiday boost from Jeremy Leroux, principal of the elementary school, who dressed up as the character Elf on the Shelf this week.

"My wife actually came up with the idea. I think she saw it online somewhere. But its been a tough couple of years for teachers and students, so it just seemed like something fun to do to boost morale," said Leroux.

Kyle Colunio, principal of Watkins Glen High School also joined in on the fun Thursday, dressing up as the character Buddy from the 1990's movie, "Elf".

"I had a Buddy the Elf costume and I thought it would be really funny if I wore it on the day that he [Leroux] was the Elf on the Shelf, and the kids went wild for it," said Colunio.

Leroux brought the book character to life to spread some holiday excitement among his students.

"The kids were very excited about it," said Leroux. "They seemed to get a kick out of searching for the elf every morning."

Colunio loved the interaction that he got from people when dressing as the cult classic figure.

"Lots of people came up to me. They asked me 'where my dad is,' they quote lines, they come up and say 'what's your favorite color?'," Colunio said.

The two principals had so much fun doing this project this year, that they already plan on doing a similar activity next year.