Pupils at Nairn Academy don’t mind heading to Mr Jessiman’s class during December as they know they’ll be met with a festive treat.
Social sciences teacher Ryan Jessiman is a self proclaimed “Christmas geek”.
Even if you didn’t know this based on his love of festive films and obsession with cheesy tunes, you might get an inkling when you see his collection of jumpers.
On every school day in December, Mr Jessiman is wearing a different festive outfit consisting of a jumper, a mask and socks.
He did not take preparations for the month lightly, turning his spare room into woolly winter wonderland.
He said: “The weekend before December I lay the jumpers out on the spare bed with a facemask and a set of socks to go with each jumper.
“They generally get more and more hideous the closer we get to Christmas.”
‘Suitably tacky’
The teacher’s archive of festive ensembles was not built in one night, it is many years in the making.
He said: “Every year I find myself thinking ‘oh I’ll buy one more Christmas jumper’ or ‘oh that looks suitably tacky, let’s add it to my collection.’
“About three years ago I realised I had enough to wear for each working day in December.”
In 2018 he did just that, then in 2019 was asked by another member of staff whether he’d be taking on the feat again.
In 2020, he turned the festive cheer up even higher, adding themed socks and masks into the mix.
Mr Jessiman, who is faculty head of social sciences at Nairn Academy, said: “Last year I thought the facemasks would be a bit of a one off to make the pandemic festive, but here we go again.
“At least I’ve got my money’s worth out of them.”
Spreading festive cheer
As well as keeping him warm in the school, which has to keep windows open for extra ventilation, Mr Jessiman’s Christmas outfits bring joy to those around him.
He said: “The pupils really enjoy it. They’ll pop in and say ‘what Christmas jumper have we got today?'”
He isn’t the only one at Nairn Academy trying to lift spirits this Christmas, with other staff decorating their classroom doors for the occasion.
“It’s dark and gloomy as it is so a few members of staff thought we’d add some Chrismas joy.” Mr Jessiman explained.
“A lot of staff have jumped on board and seen it as an opportunity to make the school a bit more jolly. Something jolly and silly just makes school that bit nicer.”
Some are even starting to see Mr Jessiman’s jumpers as competition. He laughed as he remembered a technology teacher coming to his door wrapped in tinsel earlier this week.
Festive favourites
Mr Jessiman’s Christmas jumpers has scoured far and wide to collate his ultimate collection. From January sales to unexpected shops, he has whittled finding them down to a fine art.
Speaking about his strangest purchase, he said: “It might be the Home Bargains one.
“I saw it in an advert and I’m committed enough that I popped into the shop in Inverness, then when they didn’t stock it I went through to the one in Nairn and luckily they had it.”
Members of staff and pupils have developed their favourites over the last few years, asking when they’ll be making an appearance.
Though finding it hard to choose, Mr Jessiman did reveal his own favourite jumper: “I’ve got one that’s a polar bear wearing his own Christmas jumper. It’s a little bit of Christmas inception.
“He’s got the softest belly ever, I find it really tempting to just stand all day and rub the jumper.”
You can keep up with Mr Jessiman’s Christmas jumper countdown on the Nairn Academy Facebook page.