The bakery at Gloucester County Institute of Technology was buzzing with activity on a recent weekday afternoon as students prepared oodles of goodies to fill orders placed for the holidays. Watch video
DEPTFORD TWP. -- The bakery at Gloucester County Institute of Technology was buzzing with activity on a recent weekday afternoon as students prepared oodles of goodies to fill orders placed for the holidays.
The program's Fresh Start Bakery holds holiday sales for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the rush was on to make cookies, cakes, pies and many other delicious treats.
As Christmas music jangled in the background, the students remained focused on the mission. Some prepared batter in industrial-sized mixers, while others arranged trays and boxes of cookies. Still others applied icing to cookies while another duo made pepperoni bread.
Instructor Deneen Clark, who teaches baking and culinary arts at GCIT, didn't stand still for a minute as she moved from one group of students to the next, keeping the well-oiled operation humming.
This is the commercial baking portion of the school's culinary arts program.
"They learn everything you would do in a commercial bakery," Clark said. "You name it, they do it."
Savanah Hassan, a former student now employed as a teacher assistant, darted from one task to the next. Like Clark, she was everywhere.
Hassan is impressed with how engaged the students are in learning the culinary arts.
"The kids are so interested in doing this," she said, as she took a break from icing a trays of cookies. "I'm happy to see them enjoy it."
The GCIT baking program began more than 25 years ago and it's clear from watching the activity in the school bakery/classroom why the program is flooded with orders for the holidays.
Between the sights and smells, this bakery is the real deal. Maneuvering expertly around her busy students, huge mixers, industrial-sized ovens and tables of sweets in various stages of production, Clark keeps a close eye on everyone's progress.
She offers encouraging words as she goes and it's obvious how she feels about her job. Clark said she gets to work early each day in order to be ready for her young bakers.
"I look forward every day to working with the kids," Clark smiled.
When students arrive for their two hours in the bakery, they get their assignments and start their day. They all wear chef's attire, including those big white hats.
They have 200 orders to fill for the bakery's Christmas sale and each order includes many individual items. The bakery is no longer accepting orders for this year's Christmas sale. They made nearly 500 pies for the Thanksgiving sale.
In addition to filling holiday orders, the bakery maintains a store in the school, complete with glass cases displaying a variety of treats. The store hours -- for students, staff and the community -- are Monday through Thursday from 3-7:30 p.m. The Fresh Start Bakery phone number is 856-468-1445, ext. 2211.
Students are involved in every stage of the process.
"I was really interested in cooking before, but I was actually really bad at it," said sophomore Rebecca Martin. "But being here made me get better." Her goal is to go on to a culinary college.
Sophomore Chris Blue was busy preparing many of the 175 pepperoni breads ordered for the holidays.
"I like this program because, when I was younger, I used to cook all the time with my mom," he said. Chris has taken that experience into the classroom. "I like making food and having fun in class with my friends."
He's not sure yet if his future lies in the culinary arts, however.
"Depending on how my life goes, I want to go for culinary, but at the same time I'm not sure what I want to do with my life yet."
Students leave this program with the skills they need to get a job at a bakery.
Several graduates of the program have gone on pursue higher education in culinary schools and some have landed jobs with places including Country Sweets Bakery Shoppe in Woodbury and Carlo's Bake Shoppe in Marlton, which is owned by "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro. In fact, some businesses come to GCIT seeking future employees, Clark noted.
"They are ready to go out into the world and have a career," Clark said. "They are job-ready to go into a bakery."
Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.