Students baking for classmates

Last Wednesday, the Makerspace area of Thermopolis Middle School looked more like a studio for a cooking show, as Brailee DeVries and Brody Sorensen worked alongside Pam Jensen of King Arthur's Flour, for the company's Bake for Good Kids program. Though only two students did the work, a camera trained on their workstation gave fifth and sixth graders an up close look as they measured, mixed and kneaded.

Teacher Becky Martinez explained each student received their own bag of the ingredients for the bread to take home with them to make two loaves each at home. One, she said, they will enjoy with their families. The second they will bring back to the school this Friday to be donated to a non-profit; the students chose the backpack program, which provides students in need with food during the weekend.

Students were reminded to freeze their loaves if they made them far in advance.

Martinez further noted she applied for the program, though King Arthur needs a certain number of schools participating in a given area before a representative is sent out.

She noted the company provides 100 percent of the ingredients for all of the students.

Jensen explained Bake for Good is one of the ways King Arthur gives back to the community. Representatives go to schools all over the country and teach students how to bake yeast bread.

It's not just about making bread dough, however. While DeVries and Sorensen kept busy at the worktable, Jensen spoke to the math and science that goes into baking, such as correct measurements and how yeast works. "Besides that," she said, "when you see it done it's so much easier to learn. So the kids actually see the whole process of making the dough and shaping the loaves, and they see the work they actually have to do."

Jensen said some students could become bakers for life, but she hopes the program gives them more of a connection to the food they eat. The recipe, she noted, is fairly "bulletproof" so the students will be successful with it and be instilled with confidence for more educational opportunities.

Martinez said she likes the ingredients going home with students so it becomes a family event, not just mom and dad cooking. Jensen said she gets a lot of feedback from parents who are appreciative of having the opportunity to do something with their kids.

In addition to making the bread loaves, DeVries and Sorensen got to make a couple additional items including cinnamon rolls and pizza crust.

About the experience, DeVries said, "I thought it was a really good learning experience. I am a baker and personally I learned a lot more than I had already known."

Sorensen said, "I thought it was good for everyone to watch how it's done so they know how to do it exactly instead of just thinking how to do it." He added his favorite parts were tossing the dough for the pizza crust and "really folding the dough, because it's a lot like play dough." DeVries enjoyed learning the different techniques of scooping and fluffing the flour.

Sorensen and DeVries both said all students should learn to bake as it's a good life skill and teaches self-reliance.