Gingerbread House Competition is a Sweet Tradition at Trivium

Before winter break begins the Great Hearts campus in Goodyear, Ariz., the Archway Trivium and Trivium  Prep staff take part in a long-standing competition. For over a decade now, the campus has held a gingerbread competition, where teams work together to build structures that rival works of art, albeit some more abstract than others.

“It’s just a really great time to have fun, build camaraderie with each other, but also have a friendly competition,” explained Erika Sims, the office manager at Trivium Prep and official emcee of the event.

While competitions in previous years have garnered multiply categories for teams to be judged on, this year the winners circle has been simplified. “We’re actually just going back to our roots and just having an overall winner and then a second and third place,” said Sims. “There’s not a huge prize with it other than bragging rights.”

Teams are given one hour from start to finish, which may seem like a lot of time, but has proved to be challenging for more advanced and ambitious gingerbread structures. “They cannot prepare things unless it’s homemade gingerbread, but you can’t form things ahead of time,” said Sims, adding that the biggest rule of all is that everything must be edible. “Down to you can’t even use skewers. So, I’ve seen some people use spaghetti. It doesn’t have to be out of gingerbread. It could be out of Rice Krispies, but not even Sharpies. You have to use edible ink. It’s a serious business.”

You may wonder how a gingerbread house competition fits into a classical school, but you may be surprised to know that its origins trace all the way back to ancient Rome, where there are records of honey cakes spiced with ginger that was used not only for seasoning, but also for its preservation properties.

The tradition of making decorated gingerbread houses started in Germany in the early 1800s. It is widely believed, but debated, that the first gingerbread houses were the result of the well-known Grimm’s fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” in which the two children abandoned in the forest found an edible house made of bread with sugar decorations.

The event proves to be a lot of fun for the staff and a great way to have a little leisure and fun after wrapping up the fall term. In the end, the Trivium Prep administration team took third place with their holiday train, complete with a damsel in distress on the tracks made with licorice. The fifth grade team won with there homage to “Where the Red Fern Grows,” the work of literature that fifth-grade scholars recently completed reading as part of the fall curriculum. But the team that “took the cake” was the Archway Trivium administration with their edible replica of Trader Joes in celebration of the new establishment the recently opened down the street from the school. Team members even dressed in Hawaiian shirts and Trader Joes name tags to complete the theme.

Beyond the icing and candy, the event is really about teamwork, creativity, and the relationships that make this campus such a special place to work. From literary tributes to local favorites, each gingerbread creation told its own story and proved that a little friendly competition is the perfect way to wrap up the season.

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