Submitted by Rene Carroll
Jemtegaard Middle School art students are being challenged by a sweet competition to create the best candy house or candy display just in time for the holiday season.
Each team must plan and build their special work of art using only edible materials. Supplies include graham crackers, licorice, sugar cones, rice crispy treats, icing and lots and lots of colorful candies. The competition involves 43 teams and a total of 148 students, representing all grade levels.
Sixth grade student, Alexis McConville, said other than not eating the candy, the biggest challenge is getting the candy decorations to stick to the graham crackers. Her team also includes Kayla Berry and Paige Guffey. Their theme is a colorful holiday village using sugar cones for trees and houses built with graham crackers covered with assorted candies including Sweet Tarts and M&Ms.
The team of sixth graders Paige Prynn, Taylor Cotton, Samantha Gifford and Madison Swanson decided their candy display would have a crime scene theme. “We thought it would be fun to make and get a lot of votes,” explained Cotton. The scene is a red licorice fenced ice rink with the unfortunate victim impaled by a candy cane.
The completed pieces will be on display in the school library where students from JMS and Columbia River Gorge Elementary will be encouraged to vote on their favorites. Voting will be tallied on a Google Form so results can be tracked real time. There will be five winning teams who will choose between a reward of donuts or pizza for their group.
