The King Arthur Baking Company brought its outreach program, Bake for Good, to the district this week, visiting every building with sixth- and seventh-graders.

On Tuesday, Bake for Good Coordinator Leanne Reynolds led students at Beaty-Warren Middle School

The district’s Family Consumer Science department has hosted the event twice now, once before the pandemic, and hopes to continue to do so every other year.

FCS teachers Lewann Alexander and Ruby Pope were on-hand for the Beaty presentations.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Beaty-Warren Middle School seventh grader Donald Anderson makes braided bread Tuesday during a yeast-bread-making program as Rebecca Anderson looks on.

“Every sixth and seventh grade student will observe how to make yeast breads,” Alexander said.

Reynolds worked with Rebecca and Donald Anderson in the late-morning presentation at Beaty.

An image of what was going on on the preparation table surface was cast onto the screen behind Reynolds to help the students in the audience see what was going on.

After they observe the production at school, they are asked to go home and make two loaves of bread there.

“They make a loaf of bread for their family and another for the community,” Alexander said. “They’re supposed to bring in their extra bread on Tuesday so we can make a donation to local food banks and food pantries.”

The goal is to get families together working on the project while providing for the community, Pope said. “It’s something that they can work on together with their families and something that they’ve put their hard work into and give back to the community.”

“They take a couple ingredients and make something they can enjoy or give to someone else,” she said. “Baking is the language of love. It’s so easy to take a couple ingredients and make someone’s life easier.”

The last time Bake for Good came to Beaty, 175 students brought in bread as donations.

The food materials for the baking are provided.

“They send each middle school student a kit,” Alexander said. “The kits include a small bag of all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, a dough scraper, a packet of yeast, a King Arthur recipe book, a baggie to donate the bread in, and an all-purpose carry-all bag.”

Reynolds demonstrated how to make other options based on the kits.

For their families, students “can make rolls, cinnamon rolls, braided bread, soft pretzels, or a loaf of bread,” Alexander said.

Reynolds even explained and demonstrated the making of pizza crust.

After two presentations at Beaty, Reynolds went to Eisenhower Middle High School Tuesday afternoon and Sheffield and Youngsville middle high schools on Wednesday.

“We want to inspire the next generation of bakers,” Reynolds said. “We want to make sure that students get a chance to try something new and learn a new skill.”

By the end of this year, the program will have been delivered to over 500,000 students nationwide, she said.

Bread donated by students at each school will stay in their communities.

“Breaking bread is celebrating community,” Reynolds said. “The company is all about that – building community service through baking.”