Inside the school where men train to be the perfect Santa Claus

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santa school

Christinne Muschi/Reuters

Santa students enrol for the course from countries all over the world.

Turns out that playing Santa Claus requires much more than pulling on a red costume and sprouting a big white beard.

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That's why each year, hundreds of aspiring St Nicks pay for a three-day crash course at America's "Harvard of Santa Schools."

More than 200 men and women from all over the world attended the Michigan-based Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School this November.

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Reuters went along to follow their journey as they learnt to make toys and spread Christmas cheer for appearances at supermarkets, shopping centres, and markets around the globe.

The course - which ran from 18 November until 20 November this year - is open to solo Santas and couples hoping to play Mr and Mrs Claus. It teaches everything from the History of Saint Nicholas to reindeer habits, according to the School's website.

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"It's a privilege to play Santa," Thomas Valent, the school's current dean and former alumnus, told Reuters. Here's what it takes to become the perfect Father Christmas.