Mr. Louis Neijenhuis, the Director of Campus Dining at MVA, won first place in MMI Dining’s Gingerbread House Contest for his depiction of Montverde Academy! This gorgeous display of confectionary delight can be found in the Dining Hall at the center of the salad bar. It features the Dining Hall itself topped with Santa and his reindeer; the Upper/Middle School loop lined with candy; the Bell Tower adorned with lights, peppermints, and frosting; a holiday tree; and students playing on the lawn dusted with coconut snow.
MVA is grateful to Mr. Neijenhuis for sharing his talent with us. Below is his description of the display:
“With the holidays right around the corner, what would be more suitable than a gingerbread house representing Montverde Academy?
“The kitchen dining table is the place where families spend a lot of their quality time together. It is no different with our Montverde Academy family. Therefore, we built the Dining Hall: a place where we can feel at home and share stories from all over the world.
“This is our story of MVA. The Bell Tower greets you when you arrive. Around the tower we have gingerbread people presenting some of the sports played by our incredible student athletes. Baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis and weightlifting.
“As you follow the road in, you can see all the countries our students call home. There are 66 countries represented at our school. All of them are here on the poppyseed road.
“The road leads you to the Dining Hall. Maintenance has put up the Christmas tree and is still hanging the last string of lights on our entrance. Mr. Matt Hoiles is standing on top of the ladder trying to get the lights just in the right spot. Mr. Bill Moore is feeding Matt the last of the light string and making sure that the ladder stays in place. They are so focused on their task that they never notice Santa and his reindeer who are about to take off from the roof.
“We hope you enjoy our gingerbread creation.
“The MMI Dining Hall staff wishes our MVA family Happy Holidays and a wonderful 2024.”
