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Students in Maureen Clement and Bonnie Chappell’s classroom at Eastern Elementary School got into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit Thursday, with help from some help from the community.

The students arrived to find that a leprechaun had made a mess in their classroom, leaving behind a trail of green balloons, ribbon, upended chairs and other clues.

School officials called Washington Mayor Donald Sadler, who called on Eastern Elementary School resource officer Mariah Hudson to assess the damage. County commissioner Ed Booth and school board members Carolyn Walker and Michael Bilbro also stopped by to check on the classroom.

Hudson called for an investigation and swore in two students, Jakile Peele and Terrance Guildford, to help lead it. The class worked together to find that the leprechaun had fallen and was flushed back to Ireland.

Class president Rah-mel Burrus met with Booth to request funds to repair the classroom “damage,” giving the class a glimpse of how local government works. Vaughan Peterson and Mason Clements from ServPro donned their hazmat suits and cleaned up the mess.

Following the investigation, BCS Director of Digital Media and Innovative Technology Paul Huggins read aloud a book about leprechauns.