Del Valle High Culinary Students Support Tri-Valley Haven

From Tri-Valley Haven: Tri-Valley Haven supports our community throughout the year. This December, the Del Valle Culinary Arts Academy is supporting the Haven’s efforts. Over 1,000 cookies have been baked, decorated, packaged and delivered this week to community members as part of the Tri-Valley Haven’s 40th Annual Gingerbread Cookie Project.

Culinary Arts teacher Dianne Russell led the baking efforts at Del Valle Continuation High School, where students have been prepping since October to meet this week’s demand. As part of their hospitality curriculum, students learned to determine costs and plan the schedule they would need to follow in order to be ready to deliver 1,000 cookies within a three-day period. “Students learned to cost out the ingredients, the decorations, the wrapping, and the ribbon,” said Russell. Dough was mixed, rolled out and cut into cookies, then frozen, in October. On Monday, December 4, 800 gingerbread cookies and 250 snowflakes came out of hibernation and found their way into the oven.

“It was a fun project,” said Russell. “It was great to see the kids rally together as we produced the cookies. We baked, decorated, and wrapped 250 cookies on the first day!” The students turned the project into a competition on the second day, with each class period working hard to bake more cookies than the bakers in the earlier class.

Russell’s students brought the culinary talents to the project. Colleague and art teacher at Del Valle, Lela Witherspoon joined the effort as she and her art students provided the decorator’s touch to give faces to the gingerbread people and uniqueness to the snowflakes. Students in the Adult Transition Program at Granada High School provided additional labor so that the delivery deadlines could be met.“The students took their work very seriously, knowing that Tri-Valley Haven was selling the cookies and that members of the community would be expecting an excellent product,” said Russell. Her bakers and Witherspoon’s artists did not disappoint. Brenda Dutton, Tri-Valley Haven Board member, praised their work. “The cookies this year were amazing,” said Dutton. “The kids did a beautiful job that exceeded our expectations!”

Cookies are sold out this year. Watch for the 41st Annual Tri-Valley Haven Cookie Project next year to get a gingerbread cookie with your name on it.

Image Courtesy of Tri-Valley Haven