Project description: The Baking and Pastry Arts Class is an elective currently offered at the Laytonville Middle School. The class produces fresh breads and pastries for a student run bakery business and contributes fresh bread and desserts to the monthly Elder Luncheon.

This project serves as a model for a student cooking class and student business. Student choice is reflected in choice of recipes, presentation, and marketing techniques.

The class curriculum includes health, safety, and nutrition with math, science, and language arts components. Students calculate and solve problems involving fractions and volume, and use estimation to verify their results. Students use math skills when calculating cost of materials in order to set market prices for their goods. The class also allows students to explore the baking industry as a viable business in the community. Students also participate in the school garden, where they grow and harvest produce and herbs to be used in their products. Students evaluate their business by calculation of profits, increase or decrease of product demand, and by customer feedback.

All supplies for the class are paid for out of profits generated from Middle School Market. One student in this class created an iMovie of the project, presented it at several conferences, and was very well received.