Breanne Binkiwitz and Mikaylee Baliya, both from the Fredonia Central School District, submitted their gingerbread creations, which were made at LoGuidice and then (very carefully) transported to Niagara Falls.

Baliya took home second place in the high school portion of the annual competition. Her gingerbread house was themed after Santa’s Workshop.

“It was a design that I kind of made up as I went,” she said. “I made a diagram based on other houses that I had seen online.”

Baliya said she felt “very accomplished” for securing her second-place award.

Breanne Binkiwitz is pictured with the gingerbread house she made at the LoGuidice Educational Center.

While she did not place this year, Binkiwitz said the competition taught her the importance of paying attention to detail and time management. The theme of her gingerbread house was based on a cuckoo clock.

“I wanted to try something that wasn’t too traditional for a gingerbread house, so I went with a cuckoo clock,” she said.

Chef David Caccamise congratulated both students in his Culinary Arts class at LoGuidice who participated this year.

“They worked extremely hard and gave it their best effort,” he said. “They represented our class and our center very well. We are very proud of both of them.”

For more information on Career & Technical Education programs at E2CCB, visit https://www.e2ccb.org/programs/career-technical-education/