Those three little words: Back. To. School.
Sure to get a reaction, right? Depends on who you say it to. The response might be a groan (kids), a cheer (parents), or a state of disbelief (teachers) that summer has flown by.
But here at King Arthur Flour, in our Bake for Good: Kids office, the feeling is excitement. We’re excited to go “back to school” for a new year of presentations and kids and teachers and baking and “doing good” in the community!
Once school begins, four BFGK instructors hit the road, traveling to schools and groups all over the country.
We teach a 50-minute class, with the help of two talented young (read: student) baking assistants. Kids learn that math, science, reading, and a little baking know-how add up to something delicious!
After the presentation, kids take a recipe and ingredients home to bake. The recipe makes enough dough for one loaf, plus another treat of the kids' choosing.
Kids share one loaf they’ve made with hungry folks in their community…
…and make whatever they want out of the other half of the dough. They learn the secret to beautiful cinnamon rolls, bread sticks, pretzels, and even how to toss pizza!
Kids learning how to bake their own yeast bread from scratch is pretty cool...but knowing that these young bakers donate half of what they make to hungry people in their own community is even better!
I think we’ve finally caught our breath after last school year’s busy, busy season, which included teaching over 36,000 new bakers.
Kids and bread and helping others. Teachers and families and communities all over the country. We have lots of pretty great memories from last year. Our travels took us as far as Fairbanks, Alaska; a long, long way from Norwich, Vermont!
In Fairbanks we met amazing sixth grader Nick, whose enthusiasm inspired not only a state senator and the local food bank, but also hundreds of students at seven schools, who learned how to make bread themselves.
And oh boy, did they ever! Even the adults in Fairbanks baked! The final tally? Over 2,260 loaves! Needy families had fresh, wholesome bread to enjoy for Thanksgiving – a true community effort!
All kinds of schools and groups host the Bake for Good: Kids program; large, small, urban, rural, and public.
Last year in Texas, New York, and tiny Delaware, the librarians were a force to be reckoned with. They coordinated visits to area schools or hosted presentations in their own libraries, and over 5,000 kids learned how to measure, pour, and mix, and to knead, roll, braid, and shape beautiful bread to donate to others.
Hundreds of kids “went to college” and attended exciting half-day science-focused events and activities on the campuses at Virginia Tech, Blackstone, VA; and Johns Hopkins University, Rockville, MD.
Baking involves lots of science (and math,) and we love watching kids get excited about CO2 development, observing, hypothesizing, and even extracting DNA!
Plus, these kids returned to their homes, baked, and donated loaves and loaves of bread.
This past spring, King Arthur Flour instructor Amy Driscoll returned to an exceptional school in New Jersey. As she was setting up for the assembly, the teacher mentioned, “[Since your last visit] we repainted our hallways with images of things important to the school. Take a look.”
Here's what she saw.
This colorful mural is a testament to the passion of a school that connects with and supports their community, and gives their kids opportunities to make a difference.
We know kids have the power to do amazing things, and that baked goods and doing good go hand in hand.
See why we get excited about going back to school?
To find out more about our free Bake for Good: Kids Program, please visit our Bake for Good: Kids page.
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