Henkels lets them eat cake | The Globe - The Globe

That’s the premise under which Worthington Middle School Family and Consumer Science (FACS) teacher Pat Henkels was operating when she chose to forge ahead with a baking unit for her fourth-quarter students.

“In these crazy times, I decided to encourage my students to do the project together with family members,” explained Henkels, who typically instructs 180 students daily in six sections of roughly 30 students each.

“It’s something fun and positive to do.”

As the resident WMS FACS teacher for the past 18 years, Henkels covers a wide range of topics — all addressing the development of necessary life skills — for sixth- through eighth-grade students. Students benefit from one quarter, or about nine weeks, of FACS instruction annually.

“For the eighth-graders, we touch on careers because they’re starting to think about applying for part-time jobs,” said Henkels.

“I also include a ‘manners’ unit in sixth grade because there are things they don’t necessarily learn at home — and we always have a cooking unit.”

With COVID-19 restrictions bringing District 518’s in-person classes to an abrupt end in mid-March, Henkels joined other teachers, both locally and nationally, in quickly pivoting to varied methods for engaging students remotely.

“It’s been very stressful,” said Henkels, who is retiring at the end of this school year.

“To have to learn and plan new ways of doing basically everything in the last two months of my teaching career has been difficult, and people — both teachers and students — can find constant Zoom sessions tiring.

“But I had to accept this just wouldn’t be the way I’d expected to end my teaching career.”

With her characteristically encouraging, optimistic attitude intact, Henkels adjusted course expectations, creating a “bingo” assignment chart from which students could choose activities to do for class credit like cleaning their rooms or a drawer, reading a book or spending positive time with a sibling, to name only a few of the productive options.

She also set about enabling a baking unit for her current students despite the challenges of not being on-site at WMS.

Henkels readily credits paraprofessionals Tah So Collah and Shelley Clark with aiding her in purchasing and assembling kits for all the students. Then, they set up a station outside the WMS front doors on Wednesday and Thursday for curbside pickup.

Henkels offered everything the students could possibly need for the project — minus a mixing bowl — with disposable (or reusable) aluminum pans, cupcake liners, cake mixes, food coloring, cans of frosting, pre-measured oil portions, eggs and even a variety of sprinkle options.

“Normally, this cooking unit is a three-day process,” said Henkels.

“On the last day, we invite any office or building staff who are available to come to the FACS room to judge the creations.”

Lacking that option, Henkels instead asked her students to send electronic images of their finished products as visual evidence they completed the work and engaged themselves in creative fashion.

“Kids need to learn how to cook,” observed Henkels. “And I associate cooking and baking time with family and making good memories — so I wanted this to be as fun and accessible as possible so kids will continue to learn and want to do more in the kitchen.”

FACS classes in general provide an arena that is slightly different from academic classrooms, with more hands-on activities and learning opportunities that can allow students who may not always shine in certain academic areas to be successful, Henkels noted.

Judging by early responses from a few families, the cake/cupcake-baking project — which had no particular due date but was tasty enough to guarantee widespread participation — was a hit.

“One mom told me that her daughter, who has felt very disengaged during the entire distance learning period and hasn’t done much of her homework, was very interested in this,” reported Henkels.

“They picked up the baking supplies and the daughter asked right away, ‘When can I bake?’”

The mother happily recounted to Henkels that her daughter did the mixing, baking and decorating by herself, was pleased with the results, and afterwards got busy doing other homework she had been neglecting.

Another father said his son eagerly anticipated the project, and that he enjoyed baking and creatively decorating his cake.

“It was something different — not just another online class discussion — and he got his sibling to help,” reported the dad, who preferred to remain anonymous.

“He was proud that it was something he made.”

Those are the kinds of reactions that motivate Henkels.

“I grew up wanting to be a teacher — or a minister,” she said, laughing.

Henkels and her husband, Ken, who retired four years ago from his role as the WMS industrial arts teacher, raised four children. She initially was a secretary at WMS for more than seven years before returning to Minnesota State University, Mankato, for her education degree; after a year spent gaining that credential, she rejoined the WMS staff as the FACS teacher in 2002.

Now with four grandchildren in Minnesota, plus two sons located in Texas and California, Henkels is ready to hang up her FACS apron and engage in travel, substitute teaching and other opportunities.

“I love the kids and this age group,” said the properly masked Henkels as she restrained herself from hugging students who arrived every few minutes to collect baking items and eagerly select sprinkles, food coloring and cake flavors of their choice.

She called after two departing eighth-grade boys, “We can do this, right? Are you getting your homework done? And you know the teachers are here to help you — if you need ANYTHING, let us know.”

Those exhortations, coupled with Henkels’ delight in sharing photos from eighth-grader Darin Thong — the first student to pick up his cake-baking supplies and the first to share photos of his creative culinary endeavor — made her follow-up comment redundant.

Said Henkels, “I love these students, and I love what I teach.”

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