Whitehorse Elementary School students called their teacher's bluff Wednesday evening, leaving five teachers on the school's roof for a cold sleepover.

The stranding was not out of malice, however, but for a good cause.

Physical education teacher Alain Desrochers challenged the school's 390 students to raise $3,000 for the Terry Fox Run's charity. If they did, he promised to sleep on the school's roof in a tent.

'He told them, if they raised $4,000, he'd sleep on the roof without a tent,' school principal Pat Berrel said in an interview this afternoon.

'Then I said, if the kids raised $5,000, I would join him.'

The students generated $8,800 altogether, so Berrel, Desrochers and three other teachers climbed to the top of the roof and spent a night under the stars atop Whitehorse Elementary.

'It went great, other than the fact that we slept on the roof while a little bit of snow was falling,' laughed Berrel.

Environment Canada recorded Whitehorse weather reaching 0 C last night, with low winds.

'It was fun; we had moose steaks on a little Coleman stove.'

This was not Desrocher's first time on the roof, said Berrel, as he had made a similar promise to students last year and been called out on it when they raised the required money.

This year, each student raised on average $22.56.

'We're very proud of them,' said Berrel.