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1240 rolls + 6 loaves by over 250 volunteers from grades K-6 and ages 5 to 90 delivered to Meals on Wheels! Thank you to all the volunteers
Thank you to the TimesOnline and Marsha Keefer for the great article and video!!! Baden Academy Charter School pupils rise to help Meals on WheelsBy Marsha Keefer Posted Mar 14, 2018 at 2:01 AM On the surface, the bread-baking class at Baden Academy Charter School taught math and science lessons but incorporated something far greater: helping others.
Flour dust coated parchment paper-covered desktops. The smell of yeast permeated the air. One day last week, Baden Academy Charter School resembled a bakery as four classrooms of fourth- and fifth-graders measured ingredients, mixed them in bowls and kneaded pliable masses of dough into soft, round loaves. The project incorporated math and science concepts, but intrinsic was a far loftier lesson: It’s important to help those in need. Approximately 1,250 dinner rolls and six loaves of bread were made and delivered to the Lutheran Service Society’s Meals on Wheels, which provides nutritious meals for eligible senior citizens with physical or financial limitations that prevent them from shopping for and preparing their own meals. In Beaver County, Meals on Wheels serves 150 clients in 28 communities. “I think it’s very, very nice that we’re helping out the community,” said 10-year-old Brett Barthelemy, a fifth-grader in Bridget Biggins’ class. “I really enjoy doing it for the greater good. I just think that we should really give back to the elderly a lot. They have done a lot for this generation right now, and I think we should help them.” Mike Dengel, manager of the county’s Meals on Wheels program, agreed. “Gosh, it was wonderful,” he said. “Sometimes these kids are impressive when they come up with these ideas on their own and decide to make it happen.” Lisa Burnsworth of Economy, parent of fifth-grader Brynn, suggested bread baking as a project for the academy’s Take Action Club, an after-school, service-learning club that challenges students to identify local and global issues and encourages them to take action to improve their communities. Burnsworth directed sixth-grader Aleenia Reich, who founded the club a few years ago, to King Arthur Flour, an American company that supplies flour and baking materials and also sponsors Bake for Good. Burnsworth’s colleague, Eileen Brennan, learned of Bake for Good at a workshop a few years ago. Bake for Good, launched in 1992, is part of the company’s educational outreach teaching students the know-how of making bread from scratch. Besides learning fractions, reading and understanding recipes and conversion charts, measuring dry and liquid ingredients, and the chemistry behind baking, they also learn problem solving, teamwork, patience and especially compassion by sharing what they make with those in need. “It makes me feel really good,” Aleenia said. “I know that I’m helping out people who cannot cook for themselves. … It feels really nice that I can help out.” The young bakers started the day watching a step-by-step, King Arthur Flour tutorial video on bread making. Afterward, they washed their hands, rolled up their sleeves and in groups of four to five visited a work station laden with bowls, liquid and dry measuring utensils, spoons and ingredients: warm water, flour, yeast, sugar, salt and cooking oil. Once they filled their bowls with ingredients, they went to desktops covered with parchment paper and set about stirring and kneading. “Push away, turn it around, roll toward you, push away, turn it around, fold, push — I think I got it,” said a satisfied Dakota Jones, 11, a fifth-grader in Melanie Houston’s class, on his kneading technique. Partner Hoby Schweikert, 11, gently pressed his fingertips in the soft mound, and when it bounced back, he knew it was ready to be placed in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap and clean towel, and then left to rise. Reflecting on the experience, fifth-grader Andrew Kennaday said baking dough is “a lot harder than you think. You have to have a lot of teamwork ’cause one mess-up and it could destroy the entire thing.” Later that day, kindergarteners — with the assistance of art teacher Jessica Graff and the Sisters of St. Joseph — divided and shaped dough into dinner rolls that were baked in the cafeteria’s commercial ovens. Meals on Wheels personnel picked up the rolls that were frozen to keep them fresh, Dengel said. On Monday, volunteers packaged rolls in sandwich bags that will complement meals delivered Wednesday. Clients, he said, receive two meals: a brown-bag lunch consisting of a sandwich, fruit and dessert and a three-course dinner tray that can be heated in a microwave. Rolls made by academy students, he said, will be a “little bonus surprise” and “really, really appreciated” by clients. He also gave shout-outs Boy Scouts who are decorating meal bags this week for St. Patrick’s Day and to other school classes that create “little calling cards” to insert in bags with greetings like “have a nice day.” “All activities we do show that even somebody as young as elementary school students can make a positive difference in the world,” said Taylor Breaden, fifth-grade teacher and Take Action Club’s coach. Projects have included charitable fundraising to benefit a food bank, cancer studies at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, clean-water initiatives in Africa, Puerto Rican victims of Hurricane Maria and awareness of the plight of the homeless. Aleenia designs projects and creates lesson and action plans for her colleagues, said Ellen Cavanaugh, director of the academy’s Media Lab, which supports creativity and discovery. Aleenia graduates this year. Third-grader Bella Rivera will helm the club next year. Take Action Club is but one of several after-school clubs. Others include chess, future engineers, origami, photography and filmmaking, computer and technology, robotics and mobile app design. Cavanaugh also supervises a number of arts-infused learning projects that pair students with outside mentors in various disciplines — engineering, technology, food science, theater, dance, creative writing, for example. “I’m always so impressed with what the kids can do,” Breaden said. Being an arts-integrated school enables the infusion of creative and performing arts into the traditional academic curriculum, she said, and that extends to life, too. “The whole purpose of us being arts integrated and using arts to teach things is we want those kids to make connections not only cross-curricular, but to things from school to outside life and the arts is a really great way to explore that because it teaches them real-world problem solving.” Members of the Take Action Club will be attending the We Day celebration in New York City on September 20. Get a taste of what this amazing event is about!
Tune into the National WE Day Broadcast August 4th on CBS to celebrate the incredible actions youth are taking to make positive impacts in their communities and around the world. In addition to highlighting these young change-makers, the WE Day Broadcast will feature a star-studded line-up of speakers and performers including Selena Gomez, Alessia Cara, Tyrese Gibson, Alicia Keys and many others, lending their voice to the WE Movement. Learn more here and check out the promo video here: here. The third annual U.S. National Broadcast of WE Day will air commercial-free on August 4, 2017 at 8/7c on CBS. Help our Take Action club raise the money they need to travel. Making a donation is super easy! Simply visit the campaign page and click donate. Any amount makes a difference! The Media Lab hosted Chris Shovlin today from Radio Show and Podcast Frontiers in Learning. He interviewed Aleenia and Dr. Ellen about the Take Action club and Aleenia’s heartfelt commitment to raise awareness about the vulnerable and recruit a team to support, fundraise, advocate, and together shift the world from “me” to “we.” Did you miss the radio broadcast? Visit TalkShoe.com and search for “Frontiers in Learning” for the most recent podcast. http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-142185/TS-1174143.mp3 Thank you to Chris Shovlin for the wonderful interview and sticking around to offer our Gifted Podcast team some wise words. Aleenia Reich, Research Fellow and leader of the Baden Academy Take Action club has received the 2017 Youth Champion award from the Pennsylvania Statewide Youth Development Network. She is a personal hero and I am so proud of her! I nominated her a few months ago with the following: Aleenia is an extraordinary young woman currently in 5th grade. She was named a research fellow in our Media Lab program last year when she proposed to run an afterschool service learning club. Using the curriculum and campaigns provided by WE Schools, Aleenia has led and inspired the students to sell Rafiki bracelets to benefit education in Kenya, hold bake sales for area food banks and homeless shelters, raise awareness around global justice issues, and helped the school raise over $16,000 for St. Jude’s hospital over two years. I cannot emphasize how capable this young girl is. Last Wednesday she left organized games, videos, and assignments for the club [and for the mentor!] as she knew she had to leave early (to help a teacher with another afterschool project). I can’t emphasize enough have mature, collaborative, and enthusiastic Aleenia is. She inspires the kids and the educators of the school to join this club and take part in its actions. Aleenia returned yesterday from the awards ceremony in Harrisburg. She had a chance to fill in club members about the awards ceremony. Aleenia was invited to speak for 5 minutes about the We School campaigns. She spoke for fifteen! She mentioned she was the only eleven year old recipient of an award at the reception. All the others were between 18 and 59. She talked of the grandeur of the Hilton in Harrisburg, and brought back pictures of the lobby chandelier. She was humbled and inspired by the other recipients and talked of their selfless contributions to their communities and to the world. Aleenia is such an extraordinary young women. When she was done talking about her award, she refocused the group on where the money they have raised for global issues will impact the world. The group chose to spend some time focusing on Haiti. Many of the group had stories of camp counselors and other leaders who have volunteered time and talent to help pull this nation out of abject poverty. I love that Aleenia and the Take Action club sit the midst of robots, arduinos, and programming clubs. Her compassion for others and her selfless desire to serve are a reminder to me why I seek to make all our project based learning meaningful! A special thank you to mentor and teacher Sara McMillen who serves as the adult facilitator of the club. We love you Aleenia! |
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