High School Students Work Together in Hopes of Winning Gingerbread House Competition

The gym floor is sticky, and the scent of sugar and frosting lingers in the air. This can only mean one thing – the annual Gingerbread House Competition is underway!

The Gingerbread House Competition is one of our most highly anticipated holiday traditions for high school students at TWCA. With each passing year, the structures get more extravagant and lavish than the last – and this year was no different. Split up into Chapel small groups with a senior and faculty leader, students planned for weeks – the theme, execution and design.

Sandwiched between a full day of classes and finals the following day, the competition gave students the opportunity to unleash their creativity, have fun with friends and take a much-needed brain-break.

Student Council sponsored the event while Interact Club volunteers and select seniors helped set up the David gym with tables and essential building supplies.

Boy teams worked on one side of the gym, and girl teams on the other. With a one-hour time limit, teams worked quickly to execute their building projects. Students came fully equipped with candy and snacks to decorate their houses, with the caveat that everything had to be edible. Dressed to match the theme of their creations, we had girls outfitted as Secret Service agents with their version of the White House, and boys in lab coats next to an exploded chemistry lab where an experiment had gone wrong.

Judges scored the houses based on overall appearance, theme, originality/creativity, use of materials, team presentation and outfits. They walked from table-to-table as students presented their gingerbread houses and pointed out the details and intricacies that went into the project.

The winning team designed a ski lodge situated on a snow mountain made of rice crispy treats, complete with a ski lift composed of peppermint sticks, Ritz crackers and even edible dental floss! High school students agreed – the win was well-deserved for the attention to detail and ingenuity.

Everyone did a great job, making it very difficult for the judges! It was an impressive display of engineering and creativity. Students are already making plans for next year!

Top 3 Boys Teams -

Chemistry

Davis Johnson – Group Leader

Mr. Howard – Faculty Leader

New Year’s Eve

Riley Bunch – Group Leader

Mr. Maduta – Faculty Leader

Noah’s Ark

Ethan Lyons – Group Leader

Mr. Koskamp – Faculty Leader

Top 3 Girls Team -

Ski Lodge – Overall Winner*

Ellen Watt – Group Leader

Faculty Leader – Wendy Ruffner

Hospital

Raina Hummel – Group Leader

Mrs. Deleon – Faculty Leader

The White House 

Carley Welch – Group Leader

Mrs. Deleon – Faculty Leader