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Baking teaches kids several subjects at once
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Second graders at St Patrick School in Hubbard participate in a project to make bread for Holy Communion. At left is teachers aid Viola O'Connor.
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St. Patrick School 2nd grade teacher Mellony Leonard helps student Blake Yendrek mix bread dough at the school 4-27-09. Second graders were making bread for Holy communion.
Second-graders at St. Patrick School in Hubbard learned how to make the “staff of life” during a bread-baking activity.
Their lesson this week used hands-on experience to blend religious beliefs and academic study in the preparation of the most basic of food.
For the 11 Catholics among the 15 Christian second-graders at the school, the bread-making was more than a school activity. It was a prelude to their First Holy Communion on Sunday. That’s when the youngsters will first take the Eucharist, which is central in the sacramental life of Roman Catholics.
The 11 students and 28 children in Confraternity of Christine Doctrine classes are among hundreds in the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown who are taking this step as a part of Christian initiation.
Marcy Sebest, a parent volunteer, has coordinated the bread-baking activity since her son, Joey, now a seventh-grader, was in second grade when the project began. Her other son, Jack, a fifth-grader, also has participated.
“First Holy Communion is a big day in the church,” Sebest said. The preparation leading up to it contributes to the significance.
“For the religious aspect, Jesus is the bread of life,” Sebest said. But she added that the bread-baking also involves students in teamwork as well as math and science.
“There is a lot they can get out of it,” she added, noting that older students have good memories of the activity and ask her for recipe. “One boy baked the bread for his family for Christmas,” Sebest said. “I think it shows they remember, and it means something to them.”
Mellony Leonard, second-grade teacher, said, “They don’t have to be Catholic to understand the process.”
As the students alternate between bread-making and class, the teacher said she reviews the meaning and symbolism of the bread and why the children are making it.
“We talk about the chemistry of the yeast,” she said. The measurements for ingredients yield a math lesson.
It’s an all-day activity for the 8-year-old students, who make multiple trips from their classroom to the kitchen in the church hall where the bread is made. It started in the morning, when the students mixed the ingredients for the bread dough.
Sebest credited the recipe to Sister Vittoria of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart at Villa Maria Teresa in Hubbard. “It’s her recipe and it works well,” she said of the basic Italian-bread recipe. “It’s all in one bowl and simple for the kids.”
After measuring ingredients, the mixing and kneading takes place. A sign of enthusiastic participation is the flour that finds its way to the students’ faces and clothes. The bowls of dough are allowed to rise in a warm place with Sebest keeping tabs on the progress. When the students return, the raised dough is punched down then rises again. Then it’s divided into small loaves and rolls.
“We make loaves with the sign of the cross and what we call trinity rolls ... for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” Sebest said.
Viola O’Conner, who has volunteered at the school for eight years, helped youngsters learn the process of kneading. Standing behind one boy, she held his hands and showed him how to knead the bread. “I love kids,” she said of her volunteer service. “It’s good for them to have different knowledge ... this is teaching them firsthand how bread is made.”
Leonard said the children make loaves to take home. At a prayer service at the conclusion of the activity, children eat the trinity rolls. “The rolls are presented as a symbolic offering,” she said.
Picked at random, one of the children making First Communion will present a loaf of bread from the class. “I think it helps them make a personal connection to Jesus and what he did for them.”
Mary Lyons and A.J. Sams, both 8, will make their First Holy Communion this weekend. “We’ve made bread at home. For Communion, the bread is Jesus,” Mary said. A.J. said, “I liked making it.”
Leonard also emphasized a hygiene lesson. “If you touch your face, you have to wash your hands,” she advised her students.
linonis@vindy.com