'C' is for Cookie - and cool classrooms

By KAYE THORNBRUGH

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Learning can be pretty sweet.

Woodland Middle School students discovered that firsthand Thursday when they baked sugar cookies with the help of a local chef.

The project was part of the Teen Living course at Woodland, new this school year, which teaches practical life skills to 7th- and 8th-grade students.

“It gives every student an opportunity to bloom and shine,” said Gretchen Bell, who teaches the Young Living course.

The Teen Living course helps learning “come to life,” Bell said. Everything the students do in class is active and hands-on.

So far this semester, students have practiced applying for jobs and attended mock job interviews. For one project, students even carried around baby dolls that simulated real infants. That way students got an idea about how much care newborns require.

“I love that it’s active learning,” Bell said. “You get to see them engaged.”

Bell said her goal is to make students want to learn, which requires seeing each student as an individual.

On Thursday, students cooked in a simulation kitchen, complete with an oven, a fridge and ample tools and supplies. The kitchen was made possible by an EXCEL grant.

“This is our first baking project,” said Chloe Bell, a 7th-grade student, as she rolled out her dough. “It’s fun.”

Amber Garcia, who co-owns Young Chefs Academy in Hayden, helped develop the cooking unit. She came to help students find their way around the simulation kitchen at Woodland. She said it’s important to help kids develop their cooking skills from a young age, since they’ll need those abilities throughout their lives.

“Everybody eats,” Garcia said with a laugh.

Garcia said the classes offered at Young Chefs Academy aim to teach children more than the basics of food preparation, kitchen safety and hygiene. She brought the same philosophy to the Woodland students.

“We like to have kids work on not just basic skills, but more advanced techniques and French cooking,” she said. “It’s also learning to have fun in the kitchen.”

Bell said local guest speakers like Garcia share valuable experience with her students.

“When we bring in experts, they raise the bar,” she said.

Kile Bradley, an 8th-grade student, said he has some experience in the kitchen from cooking at home with his dad. But the other skills he’s developing, like interview skills and strategies for coping with stress, are also useful.

“Ms. Bell is an amazing teacher,” he said. “She’s been teaching us skills for life.”