Congratulations to Mrs. Myers’s First Grade Class at Holy Spirit Catholic School in Jacksonville for placing first in the Religious Category of the Jacksonville Historical Society’s Gingerbread House Extravaganza. There are a total of eight categories, including Traditional, Fantasy, Landmark, Local Historic, Local Structure, Religious, Storybook and Other.

It all started last year, when Mrs. Myers took her class on a field trip to the Gingerbread Extravaganza. After the trip, she mentioned that it would be nice to submit a project for the following year.

Fast forward one year to 2016. Eleven class moms and three class dads contributed labor and supplies to help the building process. The students painted their animals in Mrs. Strands’ Art Class. Mrs. Myers and Mrs. Halstead coordinated with parents and also assembled some of the project in class. The parents helpers include: Lynn and Ryan Quini, Karen Nichols, Barbara Jo Trent, Valentina Fraga, Roxanne and Michael Short, Marci Yanez, Melissa Ross, Elizabeth Wilson, Vida Vongsay, Tom and Joy Spencer.

The Executive Director of the event, Emily Lisska, said that the judges picked this exhibit because not only did it display varying details using an assortment of confectionaries, but it was also evident that it was built with the spirit of community, which is what the Gingerbread Extravaganza is all about. They adored that it displayed some pieces that came 100 percent from the creativity of young children.

To learn more about the event, visit http://www.jaxhistory.org/gingerbread-extravaganza