The Spirit of Inheritance
Amongst our students, the spirit of inheritance is always present. According to Shanghai Young Bakers’ tradition, we sponsor two of our graduates to participate in a one-year training program in France where they prepare to become SYB bakery and pastry teachers. This spirit of inheritance penetrates nearly every aspect of our students’ daily lives. It was visible on May 11th, when our young bakers attended Bakery China. As the communication coordinator, I spent the day with them and was moved by what I saw.
I had only met the students who came to Bakery China once before at our baking center. When I arrived at Bakery China, I found them assembled on the left side of the hall and wearing white T-shirts with our logo. Among crowds of people, the white color was quite eye-appealing and easy to recognize. But the most obvious symbol of our students was their big smile. These facial expressions were less serious than those they made when baking their bread and pastries during classes.
Our tour of Bakery China consisted of two parts: visiting our sponsors’ stands and attending the charity contest held by SINODIS with students from Special Olympics schools. The first trip began with visiting one of sponsors – Kolb who provided us equipment such as ovens and mixers. Our students were warmly welcomed by them. They guided us and introduced all the products on the stand. During the demonstration, our students raised a variety of questions from temperature control to machine maintenance, and they gave detailed information patiently. Grands Moulins de Paris, who supplies us for high quality flour, was the second stand for us to visit. They were located at thebooth of Sunway, and the chefs there made a short demonstration for our students. We visited SINODIS later, and during our visit, the staff there explained in detail about the differences between the butters on the shelf. The first part of our trip culminated with a visit to one of our main sponsors –Lesaffre.
During their demonstration, our bread teacher Zhang Shuai was making samples for the audience, while our graduate Wang Li was giving instructions on how to make nice bread. Her vivid demonstration caught almost everyone’s attention. After the short presentation, students were excited to see their teachers and predecessor from Shanghai Young Bakers. They quickly gathered around them. Wang Li, our former student and teacher, blessed and encouraged our students to be good bakers in the future. From looking at our students’ eyes, I could see the glimmer of hope to realize their dreams after seeing their model. The spirit of baking for love and changing live was conveyed in this experience. Here, we appreciated a lot for all the sponsors! They were an important part for us to make dreams come true!
During the contest held by SINODIS, our students internalized this sense of inheritance when they instructed other young bakers during the contest. They became instructors and cooperated with students from Special Olympics schools to make cookies. Baking became their common language, and the way they communicated with each other. In the realm of baking, there existed no boundary.
Our young bakers will graduate in about one month, and they will soon integrate society and be qualified bakers. Just as our last newsletter said, love of baking and love of learning define and inspire the most successful SYB graduates, and this kind of spirit our current students have embraced. They have internalized these doctrines and conveyed them to other people. At last, let’s wish our young bakers a bright future!
Lindsey Zhu
Communication Coordinator