The festive holiday season has arrived, which means gingerbread house time! From making them with family to having contests at school, there are many different ways to decorate gingerbread houses. Here at Lewis Cass High School, many students have the opportunity to take part in decorating houses with fellow classmates.
For the first time in her teaching career, eighth-grade English teacher Mrs. Aulbach created a gingerbread house project for her students. Aulbach was asked what her inspiration was to create a gingerbread house competition. She replied, “I wanted to find a way to disguise a writing assignment in a fun way and bring in a little holiday cheer, before taking finals.” Finals are coming up, but Christmas is too, so a gingerbread house unit is the perfect way to add a little joy into schoolwork.
Mrs. Aulbach decided she wanted to be a little more creative when assigning this project. Aulbach’s 8th-grade students will be acting like realtors for a made-up company called “Reindeer Realty”. They have to “list” the gingerbread houses that they made in class so that “potential buyers” will know the qualities of their home. A part of the project is showing the students real estate listings on Zillow. The students will then know what a standard listing looks like for some houses that are for sale. Aulbach explains more, saying, “The hope from there is to have an “Open House” and allow staff to take a sold sign and attach it to the house they would like to “purchase” because the descriptive writing was well done and convincing, along with the features of the house. Students that receive a “Sold” sign on their writing will also receive extra credit.”
Aulbach decided to make it a little more fun by allowing her students to use milk cartons from the cafeteria to build the base of their houses, as well as making them draw out their houses.
Overall, Aulbach is excited to try something new and see how this project goes. Aulbach added, “I’m also incredibly grateful to my friends, family, and co-workers who helped me to accomplish this project, because they purchased items from my wishlist that the students will need to construct their gingerbread houses.”
Lewis Cass Culinary Teacher, Mrs. Sonafrank, has been making gingerbread houses for ten years. Sonafrank has her students make their gingerbread houses from scratch, which makes the whole process more challenging. There are many steps that have to be taken when making the houses. Sonafrank explains the steps, saying, “The accuracy of measurements, mixing, and the thickness of the dough rolled out before baking are all very important in the baking of the pieces. The consistency of the royal icing is important, in addition to making sure all equipment is grease-free.” The students have to have patience, discipline, determination, and have to pay close attention to the instructions Sonafrank gives for the best results. Sonafrank has several new students this year, which means most of them do not know the steps. It is a long learning process, but it will be worth it in the end.
Sonafrank was asked what the most creative or memorable gingerbread house she has seen in her classes. She replied, “The memorable houses for me are the gingerbread houses that belong to students who work slowly and pay attention to details. I have enjoyed seeing unique designs over the years – a radio station, a teepee, a beach house on stilts.” Sonafrank appreciates when the students take their time and try to give their best efforts. The best gingerbread houses are usually the ones that had the most time taken on them.
The Kings’ Cast also creates a Gingerbread competition for a segment on the Kings’ Cast. Mrs. Scott’s Journalism students brought in supplies and treats to decorate the premade structures. The Courier students took two days to decorate and use their imagination to make excellent houses. Junior Courier member, Maddy Willis, created a poll to send to the Lewis Cass staff and students to vote for their favorite gingerbread house. The Kings’ Cast recorded the winners for broadcast #7.
In conclusion, gingerbread houses are a great way to bring students together and cheer them up a little before finals week. Students and staff have enjoyed creating and voting for the best gingerbread houses throughout December.
