Washtucna FBLA hosts first Christmas Extravaganza

Hours after Washtucna students and staff left for winter break, the echo of laughter and R&B Christmas music could be heard from the building’s cafeteria and gym.

The noise was a product of the Washtucna Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter’s first Christmas Extravaganza event on Dec. 20.

FBLA members, along with volunteers, spent three hours preparing dinner and entertaining community members, who enjoyed a night of food and fun activities.

FBLA chapter member Aarron Phelps said one of the reasons for holding a community event was to engage fellow students and residents, and help them learn more about the organization. The event was also an opportunity to bring together the community and the school.

FBLA Chapter Adviser Pam Kraft added the students had a mindset of creating an event focusing on providing service to others, as well as bringing some happiness to the community.

Planning for the event began in October when FBLA member Emma Hulett approached Kraft with the idea of hosting a community function. More FBLA students became involved in the planning process and took on different roles, one being Alycia Phelps, who said she found activities for ideas online.

Aarron Phelps said the chapter decided to make the event focused on Christmas because the holidays are a time when family and friends come together and share joy with one another. The chapter selected Dec. 20 for the event as a way to include more community members and students before they left for the holidays.

The Christmas Extravaganza started with a dinner consisting of a potato bake, along with refreshments.

Kraft said the chapter received the potatoes for the dinner through a donation. The chapter contacted the Washington Potato Commission, out of Moses Lake, who put them in contact with potato grower Nick Johnson, of Connell.

Johnson helped the organization acquire 200 potatoes, which Kraft said were grown by the Baumann Family.

The event included a variety of Christmas activities, such as coloring and ornament making as a way to involve younger children.

LeaCadia Bren was one of the children who decorated an ornament on black felt paper that included an image of a gingerbread house. She said she chose the gingerbread house because its design was, as she put it, “very detailed.”

The event also crowned the winners of the FBLA’s first annual Gingerbread House Competition, which only had two entries. One was a house built by Hulett and Lucas Sitton.

Hulett said she wanted to create a gingerbread house for the competition and asked Sitton for his help. The duo used gingerbread dough made from scratch. She wanted their design to be from traditional gingerbread house models, but they ran out of dough during the process.

Hulett and Sitton’s house includes gumdrops along the base, peppermint candies on all of the sides and small red and green candies on the roof.

The structure is surrounded by a fence made of pretzels while a tiny Santa Claus sitting in a candy chimney.

Although the gingerbread house competition only had two entries in its first year, Kraft feels more people will enter next time.

The Christmas Extravaganza culminated with several rounds of bingo where prizes were awarded to winners. Instead of using letters and numbers like in traditional bingo, the bingo cards used at the event included words and terms associated with the holiday season.

Both Hulett and Alycia Phelps felt the Christmas Extravaganza was a success in its first year and were glad to see community members come to the school and partake in the activities.

Kraft also felt the event was successful and said it was nice to see the students’ reactions with community members at an event they spent several weeks planning.

The experience in planning the Christmas Extravaganza also provided the students the opportunity to learn, grow and gain skills that will help make them better leaders in the future, Kraft added.