Essex students ask: Who ate my homework?

By Sally Pollak • Free Press Staff Writer • May 6, 2009

ESSEX — About 150 students at Essex Middle School can, at long last, use the excuse that the dog ate their homework.

Almost.

More precisely, they can say their sisters ate their homework. And their moms and dads did. The sixth-grade students ate it themselves, too.

And one more group got to feast on Essex Middle School work: Families who get food at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf in Burlington.

At an assembly last week, students in sixth grade learned to bake whole grain bread, guided through the process from reading the recipe twice before starting (who knew?) to braiding the dough and checking the loaves for doneness.

The students left the assembly with a bag of ingredients, a recipe and a homework assignment to make two loaves: one for their families and one for the food shelf. They were to bake over the weekend, with instructions to allow 3 1/2 hours for the project — including time for the dough to rise.

“This is one of those things where you do get to eat your homework,” said Paula Gray, an educator with King Arthur Flour.

The special class, arranged by teacher Mary Viglotti, was taught by Gray. She travels around the country for the Norwich-based flour company, teaching students to bake bread. This year the company will teach its 100,000th student, Gray said.

One of the students, Berin Zulcic, said he helped his grandmother bake bread in Bosnia. Still, he thought learning the braiding technique was cool and he was looking forward to making bread for people in need.

“I think it’s an awesome idea cause you’re helping someone who might not have a home or a job so they can’t buy food,” said Berin, 12, “and because you’re donating your time to give them food.”

The bread-baking class combined lessons in math and science, and taught students about the art of baking — a gentle touch for kneading — and the value of community service.

A few students said after the class that they wish they could’ve made bread during the assembly, and not just watch a demonstration.

“It’ll be fun to do at home ’cause we can do all the steps ourselves,” Ashley Gehsmann said.

“I thought it was really fun and unique and I’d like to try it a lot,” Katlyn Schmigel said. “It makes me want to start my own baking business.”

With the help of two students, Gray demonstrated how the dough can be used to make other food, including cinnamon rolls and pizza.

Viglotti, who teaches family and consumer science, said last week’s presentation was the second time she has arranged for King Arthur Flour to teach about making bread.
She likes the program because it teaches students about nutrition, baking and community service, Viglotti said.

“The other neat thing about it is it’s a local Vermont company,” she said. “It’s promoting the use of local Vermont products and what we do in Vermont.”

At the end of the assembly, as students rose to get their ingredients and a copy of the recipe, Viglotti told the kids: “Your bread is going to help someone who might need a little assistance. That’s a really cool thing.”