Students Compete in Gingerbread Contest
Students rushed to dorn their gingerbread creations, armed with frosting to ice one last roof in the last few minutes of the Gingerbread House making contest on Saturday. Teams of one to four students constructed and decorated a variety of gingerbread creations, from houses to graveyards, to be judged in three categories: Traditional Holiday, Phillips Exeter Academy and Holiday Horror.
The judges, all professional bakers, awarded prizes to three art pieces: a Christmas in Hawaii, a replica of The Bowld and a “bloody” red house, as well as honoring a gingerbread Tesla car.
The event was initially proposed years ago by Student Council, but has since been adopted by the Student Activities Office as its popularity expanded. “It’s a de-stress event, but also a fun holiday event,” Recreation Committee co-head and upper Maegan Paul said. “This past week has been taxing for a lot of seniors, so I think it’s really great to just let go of all of that on a tube of frosting and then eat some festive snacks with friends.”
Assistant Director of Student Activities Kelly McGahie emphasized that the categories were designed to engage all students. “Holiday Horror was made because sometimes people would make a house that would fall apart and they’d just stick a fork in it. Phillips Exeter was a non-holiday-themed category that students could enjoy, and then Holiday Traditional was there if people wanted to do the green and the red and the candy canes,” she said.
Faculty provided icing, gingerbread and a host of decorations for the contest. “I am responsible for ordering the supplies for the event and setting up the tables with all the necessities. During the event, I make sure to restock the candy as needed. I take pictures of the students and assist whoever may need help,” said Student Center and Transportation coordinator Daisy Jobarteh. “It’s a sticky situation, but it’s a lot of fun. Students seem to really enjoy it, and this year I felt the competition was very strong.”
For senior Paula Perez-Glassner, this was her last year attending the event, so she and her friends hoped to create a showstopping gingerbread house. “My favorite part about the event was getting to work with my friends and building something crazy and collaborate in a funny way that’s reflective of the Exeter spirit of working together,” she said. “I thought the houses that won were great; I loved especially the music building one, as I spend a lot of time there.”
Meanwhile, prep Cindy Su stumbled into the activity when she and her friends were looking for a way to laugh and unwind. “I loved seeing our gingerbread Academy Building come together, and being creative with the different decorations available,” she said. “I worked so hard on our building and making sure it wouldn’t fall over, and we ended up completely covering our hands with frosting by the end of the event as a side effect of the intense decorating. Everyone was sweating all over and put so much care and effort into their creations.”
In light of college applications for seniors and frequent major assignments looming overhead, lower Maxine Park praised the lightheartedness the event encouraged. “For the students who participated, I think it gave them something fun and more relaxing to enjoy in the moment. I guess fun little moments like these are what ultimately make the stress of high school—and especially dark New England winter terms—survivable,” she said.
The competition became particularly animated as the event came to a close and students rushed to put finishing touches of candy or fan heavy globs of icing to help their structures solidify, but students were smiling throughout the chaos of the event.
Faculty chaperones, including Mathematics Instructor Stephanie Girard, appreciated the spirit of friendly competition. “Everyone is a winner at this event. Whether they submitted their creation or not, whether they got first place or not. Nothing can take away from all the fun that was had with good friends that night,” she said.
For Jobarteh, the creative ideas and enthusiasm were a highlight of her experience. “I love walking around and looking at what the students come up with for designs,” she said. “I hope it brought everyone who participated a ton of joy.”
Perez-Glassner emphasized that the event’s competitive element never took away from the enjoyment. “It’s super low stakes which allows students to feel excited about it, but also not disappointed if their house doesn’t win,” she said. “Even if they don’t want to submit their house to be judged, you can still just make something cool with your friends and eat some sweets.”