BY OLIVIA VAN DEURSEN
Editor-in-Chief
The annual gingerbread house contest, hosted by the Student Senate on December 10 in the main cafeteria, spread holiday cheer through friendly competition and festive, edible decorations.
With 17 teams, the student turnout doubled compared to last year’s event. “We thought it would be fun to do together and get us ready for Christmas,” said Isabella Caizaguano, a participant on team “Skywa”.
Senate provided the house building kit. The responsibility of providing other materials fell on the teams. “We searched through the internet to find the best theme for our house, which ended up being the pretzel log cabin,” shared team “Skywa” member Emily Oleksy. “Then we all came up with different tasks for ourselves to make sure we were able to build the house in the time that we had.”
Each team carefully planned how they would put a creative spin on a classic tradition. “We had went to the store and grabbed extra supplies like candy, extra icing and sprinkles that would help us move quicker, so we had more time to put extra designs and ideas on the house,” shared “Ginger Snappers” member Carley Barrett.
Teams persevered through various challenges, such as supply shortages and structural issues. “We did struggle to keep the roofs together and not fall off. We used the icing from the box, which was stronger and gave it a base,” said Caizaguano. “After, we used cake icing to give it more support.”
The Ginger Snappers received the winning title. “It felt really good especially [because] there was very good competition!” said Barrett.
The competition retained a jolly atmosphere propelled by festive decor and jovial participants. “Building a gingerbread house was already getting me into the holiday spirit, but so many people were wearing festive attire and holiday colors were everywhere,” said Oleksy. “It just truly felt like it was going to be Christmas soon!”
Posted on January 6, 2026
Photos by Olivia Van Deursen
Knight Life 