The UC High Baking Club brings together students who enjoy the art of baking, giving them a chance to compete and learn at meetings every other week in the Centurion Room.
Club Advisor Dr. Laura Alles said, “[At club meetings] students have different themes that they bake for. So each club meeting, they’ll have a theme to play off of. At the last meeting, there was a chocolate chip cookie competition, so everyone brought chocolate chip cookies, which they prepared. For our Easter or spring themed meetings, we bake things like sugar cookies.”
“They’ll throw on different baking show episodes that show different baking techniques. I think a great area of growth would be to bring in some guest speakers to help show techniques within the club,” said Alles.
“Because we don’t bake at the club meetings, everyone bakes at home, and brings them in. It’s whatever you have at home, so the students have to be thoughtful before they sample, in case of any allergies,” said Alles.
Baking Club President Senior Tino Feremenga said, “We meet every other Monday, and on Sundays or Saturdays, whenever people can. We usually have different themes, and on Mondays we bring baked goods in during lunch. We test them by doing competitions, and sometimes we watch some baking shows.”
“As President, my main duties are to organize the space. At the beginning of the year, I had to figure out where we were going to meet throughout the year. Now, I help send out information like reminders about our Monday meetings just to make sure everyone knows the Friday before, so people have time to bake. On Sunday, I will remind them again,” said Feremenga.
According to Feremenga, “My favorite thing about the club is just the different people who come in. We like joking around about different things, and we all enjoy trying new things. A lot of people will make stuff that I’ve never tried before, which is exciting.”
Feremenga said, “My main goal for the club is that I want a lot of people to feel comfortable to come. It’s also just a space to go to during lunch. Not everyone is able to bring stuff for people to try, but just the feeling of being able to share food with others is nice, and it really brings people together, especially for me. That’s a goal of mine. In the future, I hope the club continues to grow, and we have a new president next year, so people can continue making sweet treats and keep being big backs. I hope that everyone has a safe space to come back to when I’m gone.”
“In the future, I’d like to say that, being president this year, I was able to message past presidents, and get ideas for the club. So I definitely plan on having my phone open, and making sure I set up all the paperwork for the new year. I want to make it easier for the upcoming president, and if they have any questions, they can always call me,” said Feremenga.