Virtual Boulangerie: How to Run a Baking Club in a School With No Kitchen

Despite our best efforts, there's still a persistent assumption around online education that online students miss out on all the extracurricular parts of school that many of us remember most fondly from our own times in the classroom.

And it's true that, back when many of us (that's you and me) were in secondary school, running a club remotely, let alone a suite of more than 40, would have been unthinkable.

But Minerva was designed from the ground up to retain all the best things about the traditional school model in the online environment, and so students are treated to all the typical clubs you could expect. From running and yoga to cooking and art.

Today, we're looking at the Baking Club, led by Head of Science Annabel who recently gave a short interview at the MVA Summer Festival (where the club provided lots of delicious cakes!) about how it all works.

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The baking club works on a Week A/Week B structure, where one week the group talks about the upcoming recipe, often creating an opportunity to learn and explore different cultures through food - a highly valued experience in Minerva's global community.

Week B is then for cooking together as a group, and students are encouraged to have their cameras on and to interact with each other as they create a culinary masterpiece in their kitchens, talking through any issues, giving advice, and enjoying each other's company.

In fact, some students don't even do the baking, and instead take the opportunity to hang out with their friends while they cook dinner instead.

In short, the answer to the question of how you run a club in a virtual school is: much the same as you would in any other school, but more accessible than ever.

Students aren't limited by their ability to get home after school hours, and can take part in a far more casual capacity if they would like to.

And, best of all, when you inevitably forget all your ingredients at home...you're right where you need to be.

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