Santa's Learn How To Be Jolly Old St. Nick At World's Oldest Santa School

Yes, learning how to become Santa Claus is an art form.

Over 100 Santa clauses - and Mrs. Clauses- make up this year's class at the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Michigan, the Associated Press reported. Established in 1937, it's the oldest Santa school in the world.

Every year, jolly hopefuls are taught how to dress, apply the proper makeup and talk so they can best personify Santa Claus. They are even taught how to care for reindeer, the AP reported.

The school's mission is to "uphold the traditions and preserve the history of Santa Claus; to provide our students with the necessary resources that allow them to further define and improve their individual presentations of Santa Claus," the school's website said.

Santas at the school also learn about Santa sign language and the history of Saint Nicholas, along with how to conduct radio and TV interviews.

"It's an awesome responsibility," Doug Doge, a Santa from Burlington Massachusetts, told the AP, "and you've got to portray your Santa (with) honesty, integrity."

Satan School tuition is $425 for new students and $395 for returning ones. Returning Mr. and Mrs. Claus couples are $750, while new ones are $835. The Santa School has been taught all over the world, including Australia, Greenland and England, the school's website said.

Cliff Snider, a Santa Claus since 1962, graduated from the Santa Clause School this year, the AP reported. Snider said he was first uncomfortable when he arrived at the school.

"When I saw all the other Santas there and the Mrs. Clauses, I was sort of overwhelmed by the whole thing," Snider told the AP.

But his nerves were calmed when Tom Valent, the Santa School's director, told him: "'You be the very best Santa Claus that you can be,'" Snider told the AP.