Every December the German department holds their annual gingerbread house making contest. The contest started back in the early 2000’s and it is still a fun tradition that many students look forward to doing every holiday season.

The event took place afterschool Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the gold cafeteria.

This year the theme was the Grimm-brothers Fairy Tales and the houses were made to fit the theme.

Each student was put in a group and they were in charge for bringing certain items like icing, candy, and graham crackers. They used graham crackers as the base for the house, and then decorated it with icing and candy.

“There were a total of 12 houses,” said German teacher Carolyn Ostermann-Healy. “Everyone seemed to have a great time and it the event went really well.”

The winners were determined by different teachers from around the school and the winning houses get to sit in the subschool offices, the media center and the main office.

“A lot of teachers from around the school helped pick the winners,” said German teacher Emily Massey.

All teachers received an email asking if they wanted to help determine the winner so any teacher had the opportunity to vote.

“The judges determined the winners using M&M’s,” said Ostermann-Healy. “Each group had a cup at their station and the judges would go around and put in 3 M&M’s for the house they like the most, two for 2^nd place and one for their third favorite house.”

There was a tie for 1^st place. One house is in the main office and the other is in the media center. The other houses are located in the different subschools.

“The event was really fun and the kids did a great job of cleaning everything up which was very important,” said Ostermann-Healy.

 The teachers allowed anyone to come and help build the houses and participate but because the German department hosts the event, it is usually just German students who participate.

 “Overall, the event turned out awesome and almost 60 kids showed up,” said Massey.