Gingerbread House Competition Comes To A Close
With the smell of a delectable holiday treat in the air, students took on a challenge to bring home a culinary win for EWG.
Prior to Christmas, EWG students committed to a PLT all about creating gingerbread houses. The students were divided into eight teams of two, and constructed very detailed gingerbread houses, all having the theme of “Beach House.” All of these gingerbread houses would be judged by not only the teachers, but also in a statewide competition. The pressure was on for these students to make their gingerbread houses the best they could be. As Mrs. Settipane, the culinary teacher in charge of the PLT, commented, “I think that students competing gives them motivation to give their best quality work.”
¨I think that students competing gives them motivation to give their best quality work.¨
Mrs. Settipane, EWG Culinary Teacher
When building their gingerbread houses, students had to take into consideration both the quality of the structure, and the creativity and detail of it. Mrs. Settipane thought that, “Both are interdependent of each other, if you don’t have the structure it won’t last…” On the other hand she also believes that the detail is really important. “Without the creativity, the house is boring, so you really need both.”
After a lot of hard work and dedication to making their gingerbread houses, on December 13th, the students all brought their gingerbread houses to be judged by real pastry chefs at the Ocean House in Westerly. After a heated three-way competition against Chariho and Westerly, the results were in. The winning gingerbread house was “Narragansett Towers,” from our own EWG students, Nathan Ricci and Alex Morelli.
Nathan and Alex won $200 for their outstanding gingerbread house. Victor Murgo and Riley White additionally contributed supporting help to the team. In addition to Nathan and Alex winning the competition, the EWG Culinary Program won “best school overall” and was awarded $500.
Besides the competition at the Ocean House, EWG staff were also able to vote on their favorite gingerbread house. It was a tough decision, but Madisen Dube and Rachel Andrade were the winners with their “Mele Kalikimaka” gingerbread house.
All of the students’ hard work paid off in the end, with their award winning gingerbread houses. Congratulations to all the winners!