Hands-on help
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Dylon Braun has no plans to do any cooking or baking for his family's Thanksgiving Day dinner today.
But somebody somewhere will be eating some of the Hays High School junior's baked goods.
Braun is a member of the Helping Hands program at Hays High School, which Monday turned out numerous orders of goodies for this holiday weekend during their last classes before the Thanksgiving break.
Although not his forte, Braun decorated turkey-, pumpkin- and pilgrim-shaped sugar cookies at a table with classmate Rayna Hart.
The student-run program requires participants to take part in three aspects of a simulated bakery -- maintenance, kitchen and business.
This happened to be kitchen-time in the rotation for Braun.
Hart actually was scheduled for the business portion of the class.
But, "when it comes to busy times like this, we pull from the other areas" to help bake or decorate, said Chris Michaelis, lead teacher for Helping Hands.
Both Braun and Hart took the year-long class to help fulfill business and social studies credits.
Braun had a serious look on his face as he carefully dropped frosting onto cookies.
Hart obviously was enjoying herself, dabbing the different colors just right.
"Someone in my seminar class last year recommended this class," Hart said. "It's a lot of fun."
Students attend Helping Hands every other day in HHS' block class schedule, and the program runs through two class periods.
Even so, students learn time management getting all their chores done in about three hours-time.
That, after being bused across town from the high school to the Helping Hands classroom on the northwest corner of the Rockwell Administration Center.
The program, started with a grant in the late 1980s, does no advertising. But it gets plenty of orders anyway, all by word of mouth.
For this Thanksgiving holiday season alone, the students sold 493 dozen cookies -- nearly 6,000 -- including 96 dozen decorated sugar cookies.
"Everybody always compliments on how good those cookies are," said Jana Jordan, director of the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, which buys Helping Hands cookies for hospitality rooms at the numerous state high school events it sponsors each year.
There are numerous regular customers, and others become regulars once they try them.
One of those is Hays resident Lila Gilpin, who used Helping Hands for the first time Monday, when she bought a five-dozen cookie variety pack for Tuesday's treats after bingo at the Senior Center.
Michaelis said students learn other skills in the program, such as dealing with customers -- even dissatisfied ones.
Gilpin was an easy customer.
"The kids were very pleasant and on time (for delivery)," Gilpin said of Monday's delivery date.
Students deliver their baked goods within the city limits.
"All in all, it was a very good experience," said Gilpin, who plans to order from Helping Hands again.
"Oh boy, they went over very well," she said of the cookies. "I was very pleased. Oh, yeah, I'll use them again."
The class periods, Michaelis said, especially are busy during the various holidays.
In addition to the cookie sales, the three teachers, two para professionals and 26 students in the program were kept hopping this week baking, wrapping and delivering 100 loaves of a variety of sweet breads, 81 dozen popcorn balls and 15 pies.
In addition to cooking and baking, students also do maintenance work, ranging from washing and detailing automobiles to mopping the kitchen floor at the end of class.
The students also do their own laundry.
In addition to taking orders, students in the business portion of the class do their accounting both the old-fashioned way, on paper, as well as on a computer program.
Any proceeds earned go back into the program, which is financially independent from district funds except for staff salaries, utilities and busing.
The Helping Hands phone number is (785) 623-2435. Orders also can be given to Hays High during school hours by calling 623-2600.