By Benjamin Rickert , Communications Department
Gingerbread Engineering
Black Mountain Primary students are exploring the world of gingerbread architecture and the results are as impressive as they are delicious ! The students worked hard to compete in the National Gingerbread House Competition at the local Grove Park Inn resort — a community tradition entering its 25th year . According to the official rules , the structures must be “ composed completely of edible materials ,” with the main structure “ constructed of at least 75 percent gingerbread .” The project required students to plan their projects carefully .
In Ms . Ashley Styles first-grade classroom , 16 students endeavored to create not only a gingerbread house , but a miniature gingerbread village ! They wanted to model the tasty buildings after real structures in their home town of Black Mountain , so students visited downtown armed with iPads , and took detailed photos of their favorite buildings . Then , the students got to work finding innovative solutions to recreate the buildings , such as using fruit roll-ups for umbrellas , chia seeds for the rooftops , and jelly beans with frosting in place of stone masonry . Along their gingerbread engineering journey , they studied historical stories of gingerbread in England , and read gingerbread-themed literature like Hansel and Gretel . They also inspected German architecture and maps for inspiration .
Tucker is a student who worked on the pizza shop and explained that “ it was a lot of fun building the rock wall and the patio ” out of candy . Ella was especially proud of the umbrellas and tables she worked on .
At the end of their construction project , students were very proud to have created a village they called Hometown Haven with buildings modeled after stores from downtown , including Bramblewood Cottage , The Sweets Shop , Kilwins Chocolates , and My Father ’ s Pizza ! ( In the classroom next door with Mrs . Leatherwood and Mrs . Danner , students created a treasure-chest themed gingerbread house , complete with under-the-sea creatures !)
Ms . Styles explained that students improved their mapping skills using google earth and then put those skills to work with 3D shapes . Before the students attempted to create each building , they used various blocks to construct a model , and then had to solve design problems to construct their village with edible materials .
“ Seeing the integration between social studies , science , and math — and then the real-life application through baking — will help the students remember these standards ,” explained Ms . Styles , who aims to connect her lessons with unique experiences .
Jennifer Marsh is a parent who volunteers in Ms . Styles ’ classroom . She said her whole family looks forward to making memories and presenting their project at the exclusive event for competitors .
“ I told my son , ‘ we ’ re putting on our church clothes , and we ’ re going to be the first to see all of the gingerbread houses ,’” Marsh said . “ It ’ s going to be a very fun and special night !”
Will the gingerbread house ultimately be eaten ?!
“ If you saw all the hands that touched this ,” said Marsh with a smirk , “ you really wouldn ’ t want to eat it .”
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