From a $50 seed to $14,900 donation

PRIEST LAKE — "Nestled in the Selkirk Mountains is Priest Lake Elementary, a school where all students learn and grow through all four seasons."

That is how this story begins — a story of children, community, and how generosity grows — one gingerbread house at a time.

By the time the pizza boxes were opened and the checks were handed over, six fourth graders at Priest Lake Elementary were already grinning. But what they didn’t yet know was that their gingerbread house — small, handmade, and built far from the bright lights of the Festival of Trees — had become something much bigger than a competition entry.

At the end of last year, their creation won the Festival of Trees fourth-grade gingerbread house competition, raising $14,900 at the gala auction — more than any gingerbread house in the competition’s three-year history.

Recently, Community Resource EnVision Center volunteer Connie Reed and Executive Director Katie Begalke were finally able to make the 54-mile, hour-and-ten-minute drive from their office to Priest Lake Elementary to deliver the promised celebration: a pizza party, a $200 classroom check, and a $2,000 donation to the students’ chosen nonprofit, the Priest Lake Elementary Foundation.

But what unfolded, was far more than a celebration. It became a lesson — one about growth, generosity, and how small things multiply.

A math lesson that turned into something more

The visit included a simple math lesson. The class had started their gingerbread project with $50 in seed money.

Together, they walked through what happened next.

The first bidder, Todd Otte, purchased the gingerbread house for $8,000 — and then donated it back.

The second bidder, Fred McLaren, bought it for $5,300 — and also donated it back.

The final bidder, Erin Riseborough, purchased it for $1,600, bringing the total to $14,900.

The students learned that their original $50 didn’t just grow — it was multiplied 298 times.

That math lesson quickly turned into a bigger conversation. What else can grow? What else can start small and become something meaningful?

Together, they talked about how their time, creativity, teamwork, and determination helped create joy far beyond the classroom — supporting 254 Community Resource EnVision Center clients, nearly one-third of the organization’s annual client base.

And then the students learned something else: their gingerbread house had become a community favorite.

Unlike many competitors, no students from the class were able to attend the Festival of Trees. Their votes weren’t boosted by classmates, siblings, or parents. Their house won on its own merits — by the people.

Inspired by a school that became a library

The gingerbread house itself told a story.

Designed by Ms. Rachel Gilbert and her six students, the creation was inspired by the historic Lamb Creek School, a one-room log schoolhouse built in 1934 with a $60 WPA budget — just $10 more than the students’ original seed money. Local residents cut, peeled, and hauled the logs themselves.

The school served Priest Lake children until 1961. In 1974, it reopened as a volunteer-run library “to assist in the education of our children and provide enjoyment for the community and its visitors.” In 1999, it officially became the Priest Lake Public Library and was placed on the National Historic Register.

Ninety-two years later, another small group — this time fourth graders — had built something that once again brought people together.

An unexpected visitor and a deeper connection

As Connie and Katie arrived at the school, a man followed them through the doors, carrying a box and smiling.

His name was Brian.

He explained that he had come for the gingerbread house — and to share why it mattered so deeply to him and to the Priest Lake community.

Brian’s wife, who passed away earlier this year, had been one of the volunteers who read children’s books at the Lamb Creek Library. She had read to the very students sitting in that fourth-grade classroom and to many children before them.

Brian shared that Erin Riseborough, the final bidder at the gala, had personally contacted Ms. Gilbert to ensure the gingerbread house made its way back to the classroom.

Brian opened the box and unveiled the gingerbread house once more — showing the students photos of it displayed at the gala auction. He told them he plans to display it again this June at his wife’s celebration of life, a gathering postponed so their blended family of seven children could all be together.

The room grew quiet.

What began as frosting, pretzels, and coconut flakes had become a bridge — one between generations, between loss and legacy, between a one-room schoolhouse and a modern classroom nestled in the Selkirk Mountains.

Small things, multiplied

For just $10 more than the cost of building a log schoolhouse in 1934, six fourth graders helped raise $14,900 in 2026.

They were the smallest classroom to participate. They traveled the farthest. They never saw the Festival of Trees lights or the gala room. And yet, their work traveled farther than they ever imagined.

Before Connie and Katie left, one of the boys made Katie pinky swear something important.

That this story would make the news.

Because it’s been all they’ve talked about since November — since they first started building something small, together, not knowing how big it would become.

    A view of a gingerbread house created by Priest Lake Elementary fourth graders. The entry won top honors at the Community Resource EnVision Center's annual Festival of Trees fundraiser.
  

    A view mid-way through construction of the Priest Lake Elementary fourth graders' gingerbread house — and a photo of the Priest Lake Library, which was the inspiration behind their creation.
  

    A blueprint for the Priest Lake Elementary fourth graders' gingerbread home was carefully drawn on a whiteboard prior to its construction.
  

    Lisa Riegel is pictured in 2020 reading to students at the Priest Lake Library.  Originally a school, the library was the inspiration for a gingerbread house created fourth-grade students at Priest Lake Elementary as part of an annual Community Resource EnVision Center contest as part of its Festival of Trees.