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Students Baking For Holiday Workers

Marc Valero

From left: Sebring High School students Katelynn Young, Brook Bateman, Kary Wininger and Ashley Huff make cookies Monday for delivery by members of the Trinity Lutheran Church to police, firefighters and hospital personnel who work on the Christmas holiday. Young, Bateman and Huff serve as “best buddies” for exceptional student education students such as Wininger.

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: December 18, 2007

SEBRING — Sebring High School students James Heidle and Kary Wininger roll up small pieces of cookie dough Monday for placing on cookie sheets.

The oven's timer alerts the exceptional student education students and their teacher, Layton Brinkmeier, that another batch of cookies is done.

The ESE class is baking dozens of cookies, but they won't be tasting any of the peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal or sugar cookies.

A Trinity Lutheran Church member came up with the idea to deliver cookies on Christmas Eve to essential services workers – hospital, emergency medical services, firefighters and police.
Brinkmeier, who is a member of the church, said the cookies will go to the church for distribution on Christmas Eve.

Pastor Richard Norris said, "Nobody really pays attention to the fact that we need cops, we need fire department people and we need people in the E.R. [emergency room] to be there serving us on the holidays. That was the origination of it all. We were just trying to do an act of kindness towards them."
Three students who serve as Best Buddies – Ashley Huff, Brook Bateman and Katelynn Young – helped the class with the baking project.

Huff said, the Best Buddies club has about 25 to 30 students who work in groups of a few students to help teachers and students in exceptional student education classes.

It helps the students boost their self-confidence, she said.

Brinkmeier said, "thanks to the help of the best buddies and the donation of the materials, we will probably have 12 to 15 dozen when we are done."

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