Croton-Harmon Students Bake for Good, Give Back

Students at Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School in Croton-on-Hudson learned how science, math, reading, compassion and community service are used in baking when the King Arthur Flour Company of Norwich, Vermont visited on Dec. 9.

Through the Bake for Good: Kids Learn Bake Share program, baking instructor Amy Driscoll guided the seventh-graders through the science behind baking bread and taught them how to braid it, toss pizza dough and make cinnamon rolls. All 145 seventh-graders received ingredients to take home and bake two fresh loaves of bread from scratch.

“The program is about the kids understanding that they have the power to do something — not only make the bread, but share it and do something in their community to help feed people who are hungry,” Driscoll said. “I think it’s very empowering for the students.”

The students will keep one loaf of bread they bake for themselves, while the second one will be brought back to school and donated to the Cortlandt Emergency Food Bank at Asbury United Methodist Church.

“I hope the students gained a love for baking and sharing with people who are in need,” said Jocelyn Fontana, a home and career skills teacher at the middle school.

Each student went home with two bags of King Arthur flour, a “Bake for Good: Kids” recipe booklet, Red Star yeast, a dough scraper, a bread donation bag and twist tie, and bread baking skills.

“It was really fun,” said seventh-grader Desiree Cilentl, who along with fellow classmate Charlie Azalone assisted Driscoll during the presentation. “It makes me feel good knowing that I can help someone who is hungry by donating a loaf of bread.”

King Arthur’s Bake for Good: Kids Learn Bake Share program travels around the country to teach thousands of students, free of charge, how to bake and share their “homework” with people in need.

Photo: Croton Bakes for Good 8: Amy Driscoll of King Arthur Flour Company teaches Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School students Charlie Azalone and Desiree Cilentl how to bake bread from scratch during the Bake for Good presentation on Dec. 9/Photos Courtesy of the Croton-Harmon Schools