Middle school students bake bread for the community

When you were learning different subjects in grade school, did you learn to bake bread too?

Well, some students at some Pocatello middle schools are learning just that.

Irving Middle School, Hawthorne Middle School and Alameda Middle School are all participating in a program called “Bake for Good.”

“Bake for Good” is a program sponsored by the King Arthur Flour Company. The company donates all of the ingredients for each student as well as the demonstrations, free of charge.

The company said it’s a good way for it to encourage the next generation of bakers – and consumers.

The program is for students in fourth through seventh grades. Alameda Middle School has about 500 students in sixth and seventh grade who will be participating. The company donates a bag of ingredients to each student that includes whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, a bread scraper, a bag to put the finished loaf in, and a recipe book. It also walks the kids through each step during the demonstration.

The company said learning to make bread teaches kids a lot of things. It teaches them how gluten and yeast work, how chemicals and ingredients react with each other, and how to properly measure and use cooking techniques. This teaches them things like practical application of math skills, as well as science and comprehension skills.

Tracy Tyler is a seventh grade teacher at Alameda who arranged for the company to come to Pocatello. She saw the company’s program online and then was later able to speak with company representatives about it at a conference. She said she was surprised when they agreed to travel all the way to Pocatello. But she said she thought it was a good way to teach kids an old-fashioned skill.

“A lot of parents and families don’t make bread anymore so it’s kind of becoming a lost art,” Tyler said. “I want them to feel like a part of the community, like they make a difference.”

Half of whatever the kids bake will go back into the community. The food will be donated to senior centers, the veterans home, church pantries and various shelters.

Students said they enjoyed the lesson and they look forward to being able to make their own bread.

“I thought it was a great opportunity,” said Brayden Edwards, a sixth grader at Alameda who helped with the demonstration. “I think it’s a lifelong skill that everyone should learn and I thought it was really cool that we were able to do that in front of everybody.”

“I’ve never made bread before so it was really exciting,” said Kayla Murelch, who also helped with the demonstration. “Some people don’t get a meal every day so I think it’s awesome that we’re donating to the soup kitchen for them.”

The kids learned how to make regular bread, a braided loaf of bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls and pizza. And the kids’ personal favorite seemed to be learning the proper technique for tossing pizza dough.

The schools didn’t pay anything for the King Arthur Flour Company to come do this program. The company started in 1790 and is headquartered in Norwich, VT. It has been doing the “Bake for Good” program for about 25 years. In that time, it said it has taught at about 200 schools and had thousands of kids participate. This is the first time the company has came to Pocatello. And it’s only the second time the company has presented in Idaho. The last presentation was in Boise.

More information can be found on its website.

Alameda said it will also be open Saturday morning for kids who need extra help with their baking. It will start at 8 a.m.