CES holds second annual holiday door decorating contest

Leah Haumschild passed out bells to the judges of the second annual holiday door decorating contest at Coshocton Elementary School. She is pictured here with Tim Jones who helped Grant Fauver and Scott Loomis judge the contest on Dec. 12. Josie Sellers | Beacon

COSHOCTON – Grant Fauver, Tim Jones, and Scott Loomis were showered with gifts as they walked through the halls of Coshocton Elementary School (CES) to judge the second annual holiday door decorating contest.

The administrators from the high school started their tour of the building on Dec. 12 with just clip boards, but by the time they were done they had ornaments, holiday hats, beverages, candy, cookies, and more. Around almost every corner was a surprise planned by students and staff.

“This was awesome,” said Loomis. “You could tell the kids and the teachers put a lot of work into it and the kids that were in the halls were really well behaved. It was a great experience.”

The trio of judges was led through the building by CES staff member Megan Crook who helped organize the contest. Their first stop was the sixth grade wing, which had a winter wonderland theme complete with music. However, this was just the first of several group efforts that students and staff hoped to wow the judges with.

The fifth grade area was decorated with individual themes, but the younger students and their teachers worked together to create a holiday hallway. The preschool area was decorated with a gingerbread theme and the multi categorical classrooms blended right in with them with their Candy Land Theme. Music was once again part of the show for the judges, but this time it came from the students themselves. Down the hall from them the kindergarten classrooms set up scenes from “Twas The Night Before Christmas.” They even had copies of the book for the judges.

“I feel we had more themes this year,” Crook said. “It brought the teams together and helps with building our school culture and a sense of community, which is what we want.”

Second graders passed out jingle bells to the judges and in the first grade wing they were entertained by an original song written by teacher Lana Lawson. Third graders took the judges through a journey of holiday movies and the fourth graders showed their school spirit.

“They really embraced the challenge as a team,” Crook said.

The fourth graders showed that in the details too as each of the snowmen on the walls had the Coshocton Redskins “CR” on their buttons.

The judges wrapped up their tour in the related arts department where they were met by Buddy the Elf. Buddy, also known as physical education teacher James Duling, provided lots of laughs as he led the judges through his team’s area.

“All the doors were good,” said Fauver. “I wish we could give something to everybody. Seeing all the kids smile and the gifts they gave us was just awesome.”

It took a bit of deliberating, but the judges finally came up with winners of the contest.

“This was my first year judging,” Jones said. “It was very hard to judge. It was the hardest thing I had to do all week.”

Winners of the awards were: School spirit – fourth grade; holiday/winter theme – related arts; originality – Lana Lawson; neatness – kindergarten; overall best in show – preschool and multi categorical classrooms; special mention (for smiles and humor) – second grade.

The overall best in show winner will receive a free breakfast consisting of doughnuts and juice.

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