STUDENTS IN Yvonne Lund's food and nutrition classes at Wilde Lake High School have been creating a little holiday spirit by constructing a village out of graham crackers and candy, and preparing a feast for their classmates.
The confectionery town, called "Sugar Shacks," is on display in the school's guidance office.
"These houses are just fabulous," Lund said. "We have everything from small castles to villages. People are coming from all over to see them."
The town includes an ice cream shop, whose path is paved with peppermints, a ski shop, a farm complete with animals, and the Ho Ho Ho Night Club. Using cartons, boxes and cans as the base for their structures, students used tinted icing to glue graham crackers, cereal, candies and cookies in place.
The town is circled by a train that runs by a motel, fast-food restaurants and a playground made of pretzels and marshmallows. Trees were created using ice cream cones covered in colored icing. Lund sprinkled confectioners sugar over the display to simulate snow.
Marilyn Berchie and Hannah Shaw, both 15, used green and yellow candies to adorn their replica of Wilde Lake High School, which is on display in the front office. The school's colors are green and gold.
On Friday, Lund assisted all four of her food and nutrition classes in preparing a holiday feast.
"They have to learn how important it is to get all the food done at the same time," Lund said.
Considering that each class is 55 minutes long, that's no easy task. Students worked in groups to make biscuits, gravy, mashed potatoes, collard greens, corn and green beans. At 3:30 a.m. in her Ellicott City home, Lund started cooking the 46 pounds of turkey it would take to feed the students.
Although they said they prefer collard greens made from scratch with ham hocks and hot sauce, Tamise Morrisey, Danielle Fortune and Jeannie Bonitto had to make do with the canned version of the vegetable.
Sophomore Chris Joe couldn't wait for everyone to taste his green beans, enhanced by a secret recipe for seasoning.
"We throw it in bam, bam, bam, just like Emeril," Chris said, referring to famed New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse.
Students said that preparing the meal and creating the sugar shacks helped them get into the holiday spirit.
"They just have a ball," Lund said.
Chess champs
On Dec. 7, the Black Student Achievement Program and the Council of Elders of the Black Community of Howard County sponsored a chess tournament at Long Reach High School. West Columbia students performed well in the tournament.
Isaac Berland, a third-grader at Running Brook Elementary School, took second place in his division. Enobong Nta and Daivon Stuckey, third-graders at Swansfield Elementary School, took third and fourth place respectively in their age group. Kayvon Alizadeh, a third-grader at Running Brook Elementary, placed fifth.
Running Brook's Alazar Sileshi, a fifth-grader, took third place while classmate Tanner Shields tied for fourth place. Jordan Johnson, a fifth-grader at Running Brook, placed fifth.
Middle-school winners included Nicholas Douglas, a sixth-grader at Harper's Choice Middle School, who finished in fifth place in his division.
At the high school level, Wilde Lake's Michael Biggs, a sophomore, took first place. James Wills III, a sophomore at Atholton High, placed second. Wilde Lake's Thomas Woltman, a senior, placed fifth.
Holiday concert
The Heart of Maryland Barbershop Chorus will perform What the Dickens, a spoof of the holiday classic A Christmas Carol, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Atholton High School. Proceeds from the show will benefit area nonprofit organizations.
Tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for children to age 13.
Information or to reserve tickets: 410-788-4595.