OASD High School Students Bake Pies to Spread Joy Within the Community
This week, students at Oshkosh North and Oshkosh West baked pies for Father Carr’s Place 2B Life Enrichment Center to be shared with community members in need.
On Monday, November 25 and Tuesday, November 26, 2024, students at Oshkosh North High School and Oshkosh West High School baked pumpkin pies for Father Carr’s Place 2B Life Enrichment Center. In a tradition spanning over several decades, students enrolled in each school’s culinary arts classes - as well as student volunteers - once again embraced the season of giving through baking pies for Oshkosh community members to enjoy*.
Using ingredients supplied by Father Carr’s, students took on different roles to make the delicious home-made pies. At Oshkosh North, Culinary Arts 1 students made all of the pie dough. Culinary Arts 2, Culinary Arts 3, and Senior Foods students rolled out pie crusts, and Culinary Arts 2, Culinary Arts 3, and Worldwide Cuisine students made the filling, baked and packaged the 5-inch pies. Students in Oshkosh West’s Senior Foods and Culinary 2 classes had the opportunity to participate in the entire baking process as they focused on creating larger 9-inch pies.
Student volunteers were also welcomed to participate in the pie-baking process during both school’s respective interest hours each day.
While gaining valuable experience in community service, students also honed their culinary skills throughout the pie-baking process. Through this unique project, students practiced following recipes, increasing recipe yields, measuring wet and dry ingredients, mass production of product, product consistency and packaging of a product.
“Culinary arts classes help us learn the basics of cooking and teach us how to prepare meals by following recipes step-by-step while practicing kitchen safety,” explained Isabel, a senior at Oshkosh North. “We are going to need these skills after graduation.”
“This class teaches us useful life skills,” agreed Sam, Senior Foods student at Oshkosh West. “It will be helpful when I’m in college and I can make food on my own.”
In total, students at Oshkosh North baked 430 5-inch pumpkin pies, while students at Oshkosh West produced 110 9-inch pies. On Tuesday afternoon, all of the pies from each high school were picked up by Father Carr’s staff members to be distributed in the following days.
After baking the pies, students from both high schools shared their thoughts on serving their community and how the project personally impacted them.
“Knowing that I’m helping other people is really rewarding,” said Oshkosh North junior, Shaylinn. ”My favorite part of the project is that I am helping someone in need. It makes me want to continue to volunteer in the future.”
“It’s nice to have this opportunity in school because sometimes people don’t have as much time outside of school to volunteer,” explained Oshkosh West senior, Parker. “I think it’s good to give back to the community, and this project is a good way to support people who might not have as much as others and help them celebrate the holidays.”
The staff at Oshkosh North and Oshkosh West also expressed their appreciation to participate in the pie-making tradition, as well as the community impact of their students’ efforts.
“As a teacher, I enjoy seeing the students take pride in their work. They talk about making the pies all year long and are always proud of all of the work they have done,” said Oshkosh North culinary arts teacher, Amanda Fortner. “The pies they make are always well received by community members who really enjoy that they were made by high school students.”
The Oshkosh Area School District is proud of all students and staff who took part in such a long-lasting and personally impactful tradition. This project serves as another shining example of our district’s motto - “Building community through education” - in action.
* Father Carr's Place 2B will be delivering Thanksgiving Day dinners all throughout Winnebago County on Thanksgiving Day (pre-order required). The non-profit organization will also be hosting a dine-in meal from Noon - 1:30 PM on Thanksgiving Day in its Saint Mother Teresa Center (1062 N. Koeller St. Oshkosh, WI 54902). No reservations are necessary. All are welcome.