In the spirit of Christmas, the Palestinian YES alumni from both West Bank and Gaza were invited by the U.S Consul for a Gingerbread Competition at the American House in Jerusalem. This activity was organized for the 2011/2012 YES alumni. Consulate representatives joined the alumni for a number of festive activities related to the holiday season.

The main activity involved alumni dividing into four teams. They named themselves: team Cookie Monsters, team Awesome, team Team and team The Kings. The primary activity was a gingerbread house competition; the teams competed to make the best gingerbread house with the kits provided. Throughout the activity, the alumni showed enthusiasm and team efforts to design the best house.

The best gingerbread house was selected by the Consul General Michael Ratney. The Cookie Monster team won the competition with their creative and well crafted house. Afterwards, the Consul General gave a speech about the YES program and expressed his support and pleasure to have such a program. He also encouraged all the YES alumni to share their experiences and knowledge acquired during their stay in the US. He emphasized the importance of the YES program in bridging cultures and building mutual understanding. He said a highlight of the program was that each student had the opportunity to develop their own opinion and change misconceptions whether positive or negative.

Finally, Mr. Ratney and the alumni celebrated with a cake decorated with the YES 10th anniversary logo. Before the alumni returned to the West Bank and Gaza they decorated Christmas themed cookies. It was a wonderful start to the 10th Anniversary Celebration.