On a mission to share the tradition of baking bread, The King Arthur Flour Company of Norwich, Vt., visited the Bradford Elementary School in Bradford, Vt., on Friday, November 20, 2009, to teach over 100 fourth- through sixth-grade students to bake fresh, nutritious bread from scratch through its Life Skills Bread Baking Program. Since that time, students from the 4th-6th grade classes have been baking bread in small groups with Food manager Corinna Magalhaes, Kids Connect Coordinator Jim McCracken and parent volunteers. Each student makes two loaves. One loaf is donated either to the food shelf or the Thursday community dinner at the Methodist Church. The other loaf is brought home for the student and their family to enjoy. Thanks to the generosity of King Arthur, interested students are given the opportunity to bake at home with their family with flour and yeast supplied by the company. As of this week, the students have donated over 50 loaves of bread.
The King Arthur Flour Life Skills Bread Baking Program visits 4th-7th graders in schools across the country and in the past decade has taught more than 100,000 schoolchildren how to bake bread. Life Skills Instructor Kerry Pollner says she loves teaching children the skill of bread baking - a hands-on way for kids to learn math, science, and cultural traditions all while having fun - and hopes they bring that skill home and share it with loved ones. The program helps involve children with community service, too; "They're learning the value and the joy of giving something back to the community," she says. "Food pantries are delighted to have loaves of freshly baked homemade bread to offer the people they serve."
