University Park

Inaugural A&BS Gingerbread House Contest leads to team-building holiday fun

The West Food District's Malaysian-themed gingerbread house placed first in Auxiliary and Business Services' inaugural Gingerbread House Contest.  Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — At this year’s Auxiliary and Business Services (A&BS) Diversity and Inclusion retreat, some brainstorming led to a fun, team-building holiday idea.

The first, “maybe annual,” Gingerbread House Contest, sponsored by the A&BS Diversity and Inclusion Committee, was a rousing success.

Heather Luse, executive pastry chef for the Penn State Bakery, prepared houses for 26 participating teams at the bakery. Houses were ready in plenty of time for contestants to get started decorating before the Thanksgiving break.

The rules were fairly simple. After the first rule — to have fun — contestants also had to create their display to represent a country, and all decorations were to be edible. Houses needed to be completed by Dec. 4.

Each unit received a house mounted on an 18" x 26" board covered in icing “snow.” Contestants were invited to use any of the Penn State Bakery’s candy that Luse uses for the gingerbread houses she creates. “I’m pretty sure every team took me up on my offer of using our candy,” Luse said.

The first-place winner was the team from West Food District, which created a Malaysian-themed gingerbread house.

“I’m super excited and proud of our students,” said Victoria Prewitt-Rodriguez, administrative support assistant in the West Food District. “This was a wonderful opportunity for the collaboration of student co-workers and staff. It invoked questions about Malaysia, history, and we even Facetimed with someone’s family member in the process. I know relationships were sparked, laughs exchanged, and a couple pieces of candy eaten — OK, maybe a lot.”

Second place was awarded to the A&BS Marketing Office.

“This was a fun collaborative effort and team-building experience,” said graphic designer Elyse Kuhn, who led the marketing office’s team effort to create an Ireland-themed gingerbread house. “Our goal was to make our house as realistic as possible, while incorporating our creativity. There were so many amazing designs — we’re so pleased that we received second place."

Gabrielle Pennabaker, administrative support assistant for Fleet Operations, called the contest “a great teambuilding experience. We were challenged to stay authentic to our country of choice, Sweden, but it was even harder to make things all edible and not consume the materials used to decorate it. We learned a lot about the country and had a blast. We look forward to doing it again next year!”

Amy Perryman, customer service representative for the id+ Office, said her team took a bit of a different approach.

“We started with the concept of ‘It’s a Small World’ and modeled our gingerbread house after the iconic Disney attraction,” she said. “Kirk Pare, a member of our team, remarked that our gingerbread people, decorated to represent different cultures, were like America — a melting pot of cultures and people from different countries. Everything just fell into place and before we knew it, our gingerbread, sprinkles, candies, and icing turned into our masterpiece.”

The judging panel included Luse, Cindy Dunsmore, assistant pastry chef; Abbas Badani, director of the Multimedia and Print Center; and John Papazoglou, associate vice president for A&BS.

“Judging was extremely difficult,” Luse said. “So many people worked hard and got really excited about their creations.”

As well as first and second prizes, the judges awarded several honorable mentions:

  • Technical excellence: North Housing, Ireland
  • Best use of ingredients: HUB, China
  • Whimsical: id+ Office, “It’s a Small World”
  • Creative Element: Procurement/Purchasing for their cuckoo clock theme

First-place winners will receive 14 tickets to the men’s basketball game on Jan. 27. The second-place team will receive 14 tickets to the women’s basketball game on Jan. 23.

“We are so happy with the outcome of this contest,” said Edna Melendez, administrative support coordinator for A&BS. “It generated much enthusiasm, excitement, and teamwork. It was also an educational exercise because everyone had to do some research about their country.”

“This experience taught us that no matter where we’re from, or where we’re going, we are all family,” added Prewitt-Rodriguez. “We each have a story to share, and this was an opportunity to take time from our busy schedules to listen, be present with one another, and share those stories. People are already asking me about next year! Everyone who participated did such a great job, and — although ‘West is best’ for this year — we all won.”

The gingerbread houses are on display until Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Bryce Jordan Center at the  Founder’s Room entrance and also the ticket office.

Last Updated January 8, 2018