by Sonia West Blesssed Sacrament School Advancement Director SANDY — Msgr. Robert Servatius, pastor of Blessed Sacrament School was given a gingerbread house as a Christmas present from students in the Horizon Program. The Horizon Program is an accelerated learning program for gifted and talented students in kindergarten through eighth grade at Blessed Sacrament School. The Horizon Program students meet once a week with Matthew DeVoll, Horizon Program advisor. The Horizon Program is a work in process with new ideas being implemented to constantly challenge the accelerated learners. The Horizon Program is under the direction of Barbara McDermott, who is the director of the Learning Resource Center at Blessed Sacrament. Making the gingerbread houses was more than a team-building activity. Horizon Program participants in grades five through eight each created their own masterpieces. The students constructed the houses from start to finish on their own. Mixing and rolling out the dough were the easy steps. Creating the templates for the walls and roof panels included intricate and precise measurements. Putting all the pieces together with icing as mortar and paint required patience and extreme care. Students experimented and found that detailing to walls was easier to accomplish before the walls were attached. All the decorations used were edible such as M&M’s®, sprinkles, hard candy, and gum drops. Snowmen, ice skating rinks, snow-covered trees, and a yellow brick road, adorned the completed works of art. Each gingerbread house was a palette of treats. The students also presented gingerbread houses to Judy Julian, principal of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary and Middle Schools to put in the office for parents to view, and to the Extended Day Care Center for children to enjoy during the holiday season.
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