About a baker’s dozen Mill Creek Middle School students are whipping up a batch of big-hearted goodness.
The after-school “kitchen club” formed in January and led by life skills teacher Donita Coughlin is using proceeds from lunchtime sales of cookies to bolster kids facing cancer.
“The idea was to do some baking, but also a little philanthropy tossed in for good measure,” Coughlin said.
Proceeds from cookies made by the club and sold during lunchtime go to Cookies for Kids Cancer, a New Jersey-based nonprofit.
“Once I wrapped my head around a kitchen club, I felt it needed to have purpose, not just a place to bake and eat,” Coughlin said. She did some research online and brought the CFKC idea to the club in December. So far they have made more than $100.
The student club, held two days a week, centers on baking cookies using staple ingredients such as oatmeal, brown sugar and chocolate chips left over from a grant-funded district community night project. Coughlin said they will continue to meet and raise funds for the organization through this month.
“I like being here a lot,” said seventh-grader Taylor Nelson. And in the world of three-oven baking, she has advice for novices: “Put (ingredients) away right after you add them, and clean up right then and there, then stuff doesn’t stick.”
Kitchen club is one of a handful of after-school clubs at the middle school, many of which were formed last school year when bus funds became available to students who stayed for academic help. There also are clubs for Dungeons & Dragons, euchre, jazz and knitting, to name a few.
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Cookies for Kids Cancer, Mill Creek Middle’s Page
