By KALEY LYON

Hays Daily News

Malea Stefan cooks all the time at home and jumped at the opportunity to bake her way to a sweet grade by enrolling in Hays High School’s Helping Hands program.

She recently completed her first specialty order — a football-shaped cake and matching helmet-shaped cookies for her father’s birthday.

“It turned out really, really good,” said Stefan, a junior at HHS. “It was the first time I’ve ever done something like that, but I was confident enough that it would turn out all right.”

The cake was prepared and frosted during one of the organization’s weekly class periods. It was decorated in a Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys motif, because her dad loves the Chiefs and hates the Cowboys, she said.

Stefan enjoys a challenge, and her Helping Hands experience could come in handy. She’s considering pursuing a career in the food preparation industry after she graduates.

“We’ll see what happens,” she said. “I never really know about the business part of how stuff works, so the business part of this class has really helped out.”

That’s because Helping Hands is more than a class — it’s a student-run, financially self-sufficient business.

The 25 students enrolled in this two-credit, junior-level course prepare, sell and deliver their own baked goods and also run a car-detailing service next door to the kitchen. The business is based in the Rockwell Administration Center, and students are bussed over for about three hours every other school day.

The class is divided into three groups — the kitchen group, which does the baking, the business group, which takes orders and collects payments, and the maintenance group, which details cars, delivers baked goods and does janitorial work.

Groups rotate every few weeks to enable students to experience all aspects of the business.

When the program first began, local businesses were asked what qualities they look for in employees, said Chris Michaelis, who has been supervising the program for 10 years.

The four most common answers — responsibility, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills and job performance — established the criteria for the course.

“We’re pretty stringent on these particular goals that we have for the kids,” Michaelis said. “If we can teach them these types of skills now, they will be able to get a job and be successful at it.”

The program was started more than 15 years ago, and several former students have found success in food-preparation or automotive careers, he said.

Business is steady enough that the organization completely is self-sufficient — profits are used to purchase necessary ingredients, supplies and equipment.

Usually one car is picked up and serviced, which includes washing, waxing, window washing and upholstery cleaning, each class period, but bakery business fluctuates, Michaelis said.

Holidays are the busiest times for the students. It’s not unusual for them to frost 1,000 Christmas cookies each December class period or to utilize two suburbans for delivery instead of one.

The largest order recently received was a request for about 800 shamrock-shaped cookies, which will be served during Kennedy Middle School’s open house March 5. The organization also donates its services — cookies are provided at no charge for the HHS blood drives.

Students’ hard work is paid off at the end of each school year — remaining funds are used to treat the students with an annual vacation. Those who have a grade of 85 percent or better in the course are eligible for the long-weekend away; past destinations have included Denver, Oklahoma City and Branson, Mo.

Students get to choose their vacation destination, and even this decision is business-minded. The class divides into small groups, and each delivers a Power Point presentation on their choice location. The students vote for their favorite after hearing all proposals.

In addition to utilizing many skills that students gain in other classes, this class allows students to explore different talents and curriculum than taught in a regular classroom environment, said Helping Hands supervisor Sandra Shupe.

“It’s different down here. If they’re not successful in English class, many of them are down here,” Shupe said. “We see cake decorators who didn’t realize they had a gift for that, and girls who love to clean cars and business people who are really good at putting together fliers — just different skills than they use in a regular classroom.”

Shupe also teaches a junior-level English class and works with many Helping Hands students in that capacity as well.

“It’s something that they can be really proud of,” she said. “I love this class, I look forward to it. It’s my favorite class.”

Reporter Kaley Lyon can be reached at 628-1081, Ext. 138, or by e-mail at

klyon@dailynews.net.