They are teachers today!
海上青焙坊的“小老师”
Not far from the office of Shanghai Young Bakers there is a Starbucks coffee shop that is under restoration. On the outside wall the hiring ad says, “Friendship starts with a cup of coffee, so does your career.” When passing by, I often think, “And so does the support to a charity program.”
海上青焙坊办公室附近有一间正在装修的星巴克咖啡店，店铺外墙的招聘广告上写着，“友谊始于一杯咖啡，事业也是如此。”路过时我常想，对公益事业的支持未尝不可以从一杯咖啡开始呀。
On the afternoon of April 28, 15 SYB students and I welcomed 24 Starbucks partners at our baking center. Wearing a green T-shirt that says “Starbucks community service”, they looked refreshed and energetic. Of course they brought Starbucks coffee for our students, for many of whom, it was the first time to taste a black coffee. Hmm, it seemed not easy to fall in love with this bitterness at the first try.
4月28日下午，我和海上青焙坊的15名学员在烘焙中心迎来了24位星巴克的伙伴。他们统一身着印有“星巴克社区服务”字样的绿色T恤，显得神采奕奕。他们带来了星巴克咖啡让学员品尝。对我们的很多学员来说，这还是第一次喝不加糖不加奶的黑咖啡，好像还不是一下子就可以适应这苦苦的味道。
The Starbucks partners also shared their corporate values and the experience of doing community service, which helped our students gain a better understanding of this coffee giant.
星巴克的伙伴和学员分享了星巴克公司的价值观以及参与社区服务的心得，让我们的学员对这家咖啡公司又多了一层了解。
Have been studying at Shanghai Young Bakers for eight months now, these students will graduate and become professional bakers in two and a half months. Although they have worked as interns at five-star hotels in Shanghai since last mid-October, it was the first time that they would teach their skills to someone else. They would team up with Starbucks partners and complete a French pastry called pièce montée, which literally means something assembled. Composed of multiple puff balls and stuck together with caramel, the pièce montée is rather complicated to make. But having mastered this delicate and certainly delicious pastry, today our students were qualified and diligent “teachers”, eager to pass all their knowledge to the Starbucks “students”.
其实，这15位海上青焙坊的学员已经入学八个月了，距离他们出师毕业还有两个半月的时间。虽然他们从去年十月中旬就已经开始在上海五星级酒店的面包房实习工作，让他们手把手地把制作西点的技巧教给别人，这还是第一次。他们今天和星巴克伙伴要共同完成的西点叫泡芙塔，法语名称是pièce montée，直译过来就是要垒起来的一样东西。泡芙塔由一个一个的泡芙球用焦糖粘结而成，制作过程比较复杂。不过，我们的学员已经熟练掌握了泡芙塔的制作工艺，今天担任星巴克伙伴的“小老师”，他们一丝不苟，耐心细致，恨不得把自己的本领一下子都教给“学生”。
Now came the exciting time to assemble the puff balls! Unable to resist the temptation of these full-moon shaped crispy puff balls, someone couldn’t help but put one in his mouth. Laughter was heard here and there in the baking center. Some pièce montée looked more like a leaning tower of Pisa; some was not sealed on the top. But most of the pièces montée shad the perfect cone shape and were artistically decorated with fine golden threads of caramel.
把泡芙球粘结成塔的时刻到了！看着这一个个个头饱满、松脆诱人的泡芙球，心急的人等不及要尝鲜。组合的过程笑声不断，有的泡芙塔歪了，成了泡芙“斜塔”；有的泡芙塔没有封顶，开了天窗；不过大多数的泡芙塔都是以完美的圆锥形亮相的，同学还用焦糖拉出了漂亮的丝网，装饰在泡芙塔的外面，顿时“高大上”了很多。
Now came the large family of the Starbucks partners, SYB students, and more than a dozen pièces montées.
星巴克伙伴、海上青焙坊部分学员、还有他们共同制作的十几个泡芙塔，来个集体亮相吧！
To me, the process of assembling puff balls into a pièce montée is the same as pooling all resources working for a charity program. The power of one individual is certainly limited. But when thousands work towards the same goal, the power is strong enough to make a real impact. The charity program of Shanghai Young Bakers has been in operation for nine years with more than 200 youths benefiting from it. The success of our young bakers would not be possible without the generous support of many companies, associations, and individuals. Starbucks is one of them. We look forward to joining forces with many many more, so that more disadvantaged teenagers will have a chance to change their lives and fulfill their potentials through baking.
我想，泡芙球累积成塔的过程也是公益力量集腋成裘的过程。一个人的力量是有限的，但当千百人共同努力的时候，这股力量是可以改变世界的。海上青焙坊的公益项目已经走过九个年头，从她的烘焙项目中受益的学员已经有两百多位。每一个青年烘焙师的成功都离不开帮助我们的诸多公司、机构、及个人的支持，星巴克公司是其中的一个。我们也期待有更多的力量加入我们，让更多来自贫困家庭的青少年学习烘焙技艺，改变生活，活出精彩！
Cindy Wang
王倩雯