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Listening, seniors Sahiti Oruganti and Bailey Zhang pay attention to Deetyaa Shah ’27 explain the symbolism behind the group’s gingerbread house. Judges Oruganti and Zhang were impressed by the metaphors present in the gingerbread house, which Shah came up with on the spot to make up for the gingerbread house that was falling apart. “Our gingerbread house was falling apart,” Shah said. “The frosting was melting. I was thinking, ‘oh no, the gingerbread house is falling apart, that means I have to give an extraordinary speech.’ Also, I’m just a very dramatic person and that energy just leaks out into whatever I’m doing and whoever I’m interacting with.”
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Excited, Millie Sardan Toro ’28 fills her plate with chips at the beginning of the winter social as freshmen Lina Saad and Ana Schiemer watch. Going to the social as a friend group, the trio later made their gingerbread house together.
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Focused, Deetyaa Shah ’27 frosts a side of the gingerbread house in order to seal the walls. Shah’s gingerbread house went on to win second place in the gingerbread house contest. “I learned a lot about frosting being the glue [for a gingerbread house],” Shah said.
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Holding their plates, freshmen Anmol Ranjan and Abhinay Laggeri look at the lineup of snacks available for attendees of the winter social. Ranjan and Laggeri later worked together to create their gingerbread house.
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Smiling, Kyla Cretencio ’28 places a bullseye sign on her Target-inspired gingerbread house. Cretencio’s unique gingerbread house brought her group to victory in the gingerbread house contest. “I had just finished puting the lights on the Bullseye cookie,” Cretencio said. “O was just placing it on the top so that everyone can see it. We were truly just trying to have fun and create a nice-looking gingerbread house.”
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Listening, seniors Sahiti Oruganti and Bailey Zhang pay attention to Deetyaa Shah ’27 explain the symbolism behind the group’s gingerbread house. Judges Oruganti and Zhang were impressed by the metaphors present in the gingerbread house, which Shah came up with on the spot to make up for the gingerbread house that was falling apart. “Our gingerbread house was falling apart,” Shah said. “The frosting was melting. I was thinking, ‘oh no, the gingerbread house is falling apart, that means I have to give an extraordinary speech.’ Also, I’m just a very dramatic person and that energy just leaks out into whatever I’m doing and whoever I’m interacting with.”
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Excited, Millie Sardan Toro ’28 fills her plate with chips at the beginning of the winter social as freshmen Lina Saad and Ana Schiemer watch. Going to the social as a friend group, the trio later made their gingerbread house together.
Hosting their annual Winter Social and classic gingerbread house-making contest, Outreach Club came together to celebrate the upcoming holiday season on Friday, Dec. 6 in Club Sponsor Mr. Drake Clapp’s room.
After placing out plates, utensils, and food, club officers kicked off the winter social by letting club members get food. Camaraderie filled the air as members bonded while eating and coversing.
“Everyone is so kind and so much fun,” Elisabeth Roell ‘27 said. “Even if I don’t know people, the activities that we get to do let me meet new people and bond. Everyone’s so nice and everyone is so motivated.”
Following their presentation of the December events, Outreach Club officers passed out gingerbread house kits and the members split up into teams. Every team worked together to create unique gingerbread houses in hopes of winning the competition.
“It’s always been Outreach tradition to host the gingerbread competition, so I went off of that [when organizing],” President Sahiti Oruganti ‘25 said. “We also got a ton of food and we played some Christmas music, and that was our winter social.”
Oruganti and Bailey Zhang ‘25, club officers, acted as judges to pick the top two gingerbread houses. Teams gave their explanations about their gingerbread houses while Oruganti and Zhang listened. Finally, they announced the winners: in second place was the symbolic gingerbread house and in first place was the Target-inspired gingerbread house.
“We had a lot of teamwork and we came up with a lot of good ideas to make the gingerbread house,” winner Kyla Cretencio ‘28 said. “They had a really good idea about putting the Target dog in the car. We were just trying to be creative about it and we were having fun.”
Being an Outreach Club tradition, the Winter Social and gingerbread house-making contest is an anticipated event every year. It allows members to forge relationships with each other, one of the key goals of Outreach Club.
“Even though we do have some at-school events, I feel like a lot of members don’t get to interact as much,” Oruganti said. “The winter social is one way that everyone gets to see each other and [be] like, ‘this is another person in the club,’ and just [make] new connections.”
![Reminiscing from her memories as a young child, Sydney Daigle '26 smiles at her artwork, proud of her finished piece. Daigle utilized a contrast between graphite for the child and oil pastels for the background to capture a nostalgic aesthetic. "I wanted to portray in my message that you can easily forget those [childhood] memories, so I used color to symbolize those memories always being preserved in you," Daigle said.](https://westwoodhorizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/25-03-01_VASEartcompetition_SophiaCortes-6-1200x900.jpeg)
