“I started Tucker the Elf to have fun during the holiday season,” explained Mr. Bryan Konshak, a math teacher at Notre Dame Academy and founder of the Tucker the Elf tradition. 

Tucker the Elf is a fun tradition that started four years ago at NDA with an “Elf on the Shelf.” Tucker the Elf hides around the school to spy on the students and staff and report back to Santa on his findings. 

“He’s always reporting back to Santa, so you better stay good,” explained Konshak.

This tradition started four years ago in Algebra I when Konshak came to class discussing his idea of having an Elf on the Shelf around the school. Yours truly happened to own an obscene number of Elf on the Shelves at the time and offered to give Mr. Konshak the elf. 

If you find Tucker the Elf, you are supposed to “take a selfie before or after school, and send an email to Mr. Konshak, with the selfie, to [email protected].

Make sure the subject line says “Tucker the elf” in it,” emphasized Konshak. Then on Tuesday the 23rd, everyone who participated will be entered into a drawing for fun prizes which include the famous Mrs. Brown’s brownies. 

Konshak also clarified something he would like to see students do when they take a selfie: “Selfies to me do not count when it’s a half face. It should be a full selfie!”

“He [Konshak] has always been such a do-gooder, such a good person,” said Mrs. Carolyn Brown, English teacher at Notre Dame Academy. 

This is Mr. Konshak’s 12th year of teaching at NDA. Along with Tucker the Elf, he organizes the pancake run/walk during spring week, is the adviser for the math team, and serves on the staff social committee. 

While Konshak’s job at Notre Dame is to teach kids, he says, “There is so much more than just strict rules.”