CCS Elementary Student Bakes for Entire School

By WRILEY NELSON
COOPERSTOWN

Cooperstown fifth grader Winston Hom made his own solution to gloomy weather and the long stretch of school and work between the holidays. The 10-year-old student spent seven hours over a weekend to bake more than 500 cookies and distribute them to every student and staff member on Monday, December 18.

“I love to bake and always have,” Winston said. “I thought last Friday, ‘no one likes Mondays. How can I make it more fun?’ It took me seven hours and I had to do it all myself because my parents were busy.”

As he and his friend and classmate Paxton Hazzard pushed the cookie cart around the halls, Winston explained that he comes from a Danish family and wanted to recreate a traditional family recipe. By all accounts, his beautifully-made butter cookies were successful.

“I ran into his mother, Marie-Louise, at the Fun Run on Saturday,” said Elementary Principal Amy Malcuria. “She asked me about the number of people at the school for him.”

Winston worked with Malcuria in October to found the Acts of Kindness Club. AOK recently ran a turkey raffle to raise money and buy a mobility cart for a disabled school therapy dog.

“Winston has done a really amazing job of recruiting friends and classmates,” Malcuria continued. “He really exemplifies what it means to be a Cooperstown Elementary student. He has such a big heart and is so inclusive, he always wants to help everyone. The club is unique here: It’s student-run and student-founded. They govern themselves and come up with their own agenda, meeting once a week to decide on service projects…his peers work very hard to ensure that they’re working to help all around the community.”

The AOK Club is planning upcoming food and clothing drives, and often assists with bulletin boards around the school building. Winston often helps with announcements.
“It’s just nice to see people happy,” he concluded.