The Fine Arts Club (FAC) had participants “run, run, running” as fast as they could to beat the clock and be the group to decorate their gingerbread houses to perfection during their annual gingerbread house decorating contest. Fueled by the anticipation of beating their competitors—and a sugar rush—students had one hour to decorate their gingerbread houses with the materials provided to them in small groups.
By purchasing a five dollar ticket, students were given graham crackers and icing to construct their gingerbread houses, an array of candies to decorate, and complimentary hot chocolate. “It isn’t that costly thinking of the materials that you get to use; I think it’s a very fair price at five dollars,” sophomore Cat Nguyen expressed.
Aside from being a non-costly activity to do with your friends, this event is also a great bonding activity that allows students to spend extra time with their friends during the frenzy of the holiday season. “Last year was the first time that we hosted this event, and everyone looked like they had so much fun. It gets them into the holiday spirit,” explained senior Erica Lu, President of FAC.
Tensions were high as the timer neared the halfway point, and students rushed to ensure their gingerbread house secured them the win by displaying their creativity and collaboration. A gift card to help with holiday spending would be awarded to the highest-rated gingerbread house, so there were high stakes to perfect their gingerbread creation.
As for the criteria for judging each gingerbread house, FAC advisor Kristina Gilbert detailed that the factors she would be looking for were the house’s “ability to stand on its own, the manner in which they use the materials to decorate, and as long as they’re done before the timer runs out, they’ll be counted.”
After adding some finishing touches, Lu called all groups to the front of the cafeteria where the judging would take place. Along with Gilbert, fellow art teacher Shalea Niles also judged the event. It was a close race, but one team had to be victorious and named the gingerbread house decorating champions.
“I didn’t even expect to place, but we won and it was really cool! When I left, I literally told both my parents and all of my friends,” exclaimed sophomore winner Jack Colantuoni.
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