Ocracoke Student's Sweet Work-Study
Every school day at 11:10am, the Ocracoke School junior arrives at Graceful Bakery for her work-study with owner Lauren Strohl.
“I always loved to bake,” Stacey said. “My Nana taught me when I was little, and I grew into a passion for it.”
Stacey plans to attend culinary school following her graduation in 2017, and then open her own bakery serving cupcakes and cakes. She is learning the trade from Lauren, who can relate to her childhood devotion to baking and dreaming of opening a business.
Lauren opened Graceful Bakery in 2014; it’s located in a food truck in the parking lot of The Back Porch Restaurant. (You can read more about the bakery here!) They are open in the morning serving scones, biscuits, fresh-squeezed orange juice, muffins, and more. Fall hours are Tuesday–Sunday, 7am – noon, and they will be open through Thanksgiving weekend.
Stacey helps Lauren with baking and cleaning up, and serves the customers. She worked for Lauren the past two summers, and now gets to spend part of her school day learning more about running a bakery. She also works on her own business-within-a-business, “Cakes by Stacey.” She offers two flavors of cakes and frostings: vanilla and chocolate. Mix and match! She will also decorate the cake for you with icing in any color of the rainbow.
Stacey is teaching herself the art of cake decorating. She got the icing tips from her mom for Christmas, and Lauren helps her with suggestions, but Stacey does the work, learning more each time she does it.
When I met with Stacey and Lauren, I was also working on supper plans for the Visit NC people who were bringing their TRAC program to Ocracoke. I couldn’t pass up the chance to impress our Visit NC visitors with some homemade Ocracoke goodness, so in addition to baking my own fig cake for the dinner, I ordered a yellow cake with chocolate frosting from Cakes by Stacey with “Welcome to Ocracoke” written on it. The cake was quite a hit – everyone enjoyed learning about Stacey’s cake and eating it, too. It was deemed delicious, especially the frosting. “It tastes just like what my mom made for my birthday when I was a kid,” said a guest who wished to remain anonymous so as not to make his mom feel less special. Sorry, mom!
Stacey's work is pretty yummy, but she says her Nana made the best cakes. She has some of her Nana's very old pans and an old knife that she keeps as a remembrance.
"I don't want to use the special old pans because I don't want anything to happen to them," Stacey said, "I baked with Nana all the time." Now Stacey's taking what her Nana taught her as a little girl and turning it into a career, with the help of Lauren and Ocracoke School's work-study program.
The program is a perfect example of something a small village can do for its collective kids as they prepare to enter the work force.
"Classrooms and brick-and-mortar schools have their limitations – there is only so much you can teach a student within four walls or even online," said Ocracoke School guidance counselor, Mary McKnight. "Many students learn best specifically by working with their hands or DIY."
The strength of the work-study program is the direct learning experience.
"I can register them for a business class online or they can go learn the same skills at an actual business with a real business owner," Mary said.
Work-study opportunities are usually available for 11th and 12th graders on a case-by-case basis, but this semester, there's also a 10th grader interning at a local business. According to the NC Department of Education guidelines, the work experience "should contribute to the student's career pathway helping the student to narrow their career choices." The mentors provide some sort of compensation for the student's work and the students receive school credit as well. The average work-study is 5–7 hours per week.
Other students who are interning this semester are Evin Caswell (Jason's Restaurant), Brandon O'Neal (Ocracoke Bar & Grille and Ocracoke Station), Kevin Perez (Jimmy's Auto Garage), Aldo Serrano (Jason Daniels's sign shop), Caroline Temple (Ocracoke Seafood Company), Karen Perez (La Brisa), and Iris Trejo (Halo Hair Studio).
Mary thinks it's important for the school to offer options to high school students.
"All students are not the same. My goal is for the students to feel like the school is supportive of their dreams, and that we're doing everything we can to individualize their education to their needs, their learning styles, and their futures," she said. "My motto for students is the 3 Es – Enrollment, Enlistment, or Employment. Those are their three options for after high school. It's up to them whichever one they choose, but when they choose we will do everything in our power to make them ready for that next step."
Mary added that she's "grateful to all the businesses that have agreed to be part of this program and be mentors in the students' lives."
The gratitude goes both ways.“I absolutely love having Stacey here at the bakery with me,” Lauren said. “We work very well together. I’m excited for her to have this opportunity because she’s really excited about baking and does a stellar job. I feel honored that I get to be a part of it.”
