After the final submissions for the gingerbread house contest rolled in and the librarians tallied up the final votes made by a judging panel of faculty members, the top three groups of contests were named during the morning announcements on Friday, Dec. 12.

To determine the winner of the contest, faculty members were asked to stop by the library to select their favorite creation. The gingerbread house that received the most tallies was awarded first place. The second and third place holiday houses were also recognized and celebrated. The winners will receive a ticket to a popcorn bar at Westwood where they can put all different kinds of toppings on their popcorn, including chocolate drizzles and gummy bears.

“We had 45 staff members come in and vote,” Ms. Prescott said. “They wanted to see what work had been completed by students. That, to me, was a giant accomplishment [because] that meant that staff members were taking five minutes out of their day to participate in the process of voting for their best one. We get a couple of staff in the library each day, but staff are really busy, and for [so many of] them to show up, that was something I was really proud of.”

The gingerbread house contest, along with the library’s previous unique events during the year, aimed to integrate the library into student life. The holiday season remains at the heart of joy and festivities throughout December, especially in the midst of strenuous testing. As a result, Co-Librarians KatieAnn Prescott and Lauren Kluck capitalized on the lightheartedness and creativity of the event when planning the event.

“We understand that it’s a melting pot here at Westwood, and we want to make sure that we’re honoring everybody,” Ms. Prescott said. “Even our tree, it is a holiday tree, and kids can make whatever kind of ornament they want to put on it. There’s a Snoopy, and there’s a manga character. There’s just all different kinds of things on the tree, and as long as it’s school-appropriate, we’re going to celebrate it.”

“We used [a special] paint to make it look more realistic and also put origami at the front to make it cozy,” second place winner Aarya Patel ‘28 said. “We didn’t know if we would win the competition because we saw the other gingerbread houses and thought that ours [was average]. We started doubting our [project]. After winning, we were really happy because we [thought we wouldn’t get anything].”

Despite eventual success, some contestants felt rushed to complete the gingerbread house. Unsure what materials they could use, their building and decorating process slowed as they pondered if their design was actually possible to bring to life.

“Instead of making a traditional gingerbread house, we decided to go for a toyshop [theme],” first place winner Jacob Priester ‘26 said. “I’m really proud that it all worked out because a lot of the ideas that we chose to go with were a little bit difficult for us because of the materials. It took about two days [to build]. I think I [should] have started a bit sooner [because] towards the end, we were kind of cramming to get it done. It was really cool to see the email come through when we were checking to see who won because neither me or [Jazzlyn Vaughan ‘26 knew beforehand].”

Priester was not the only one who was shocked to see the congratulatory email come through his inbox. The third place team, consisting of freshmen Amanda Lemus, Samantha Lemus, and Catherine Matzdorf, was equally astonished as well.

“It was shocking,” Amanda said. “That whole day I was thinking that I wouldn’t win because there were a lot of [houses] that were really good. When I saw [the email with the winners], I was really surprised.”

Due to the unexpected success of this winter holiday event, Ms. Prescott plans on hosting more fun and engaging activities and events in the spring semester. With ample time until the spring season, the library is diligently preparing for the spring celebrations, particularly National Library Week in April.

“I’m not sure if we’re going to do anything differently [for this event],” Ms. Prescott said. “But we’re planning on doing something [similar] in the spring, probably a Peeps-themed contest where groups submit a recreation of a [scene of] a novel of their choice by using Peeps [as a primary material]. We’re really excited about introducing that to the students in March. April is National Library Month and Week and so we would like to do some fun things around that time [as well].”