Long Prairie-Grey Eagle High School Teacher Sharing Smiles Through Sweet Rolls

An English teacher at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle High School is serving up smiles through his love of baking. David Blanchard has been teaching at LPGE since 1997 and has been a cornerstone in countless students' English language education.

This year, Mr. Blanchard has been baking sweet rolls on Thursday mornings for staff meetings, and the leftovers get served to students who diligently line up for a taste 15 minutes before class starts. Each week, eight dozen ooey-gooey, hand-kneaded, homemade cinnamon and caramel rolls are served, creating a great moral boost in the building.

When posting the weekly roll update on Facebook, Blanchard shared that there had been an update in what is being referred to as "The Blanchard Roll Baking Saga."  A former student has spearheaded a fundraising campaign to pay for ingredients, and another former student has connections to get him ingredients below retail cost. Other people wanted to donate as well, and because of that, the expenses of ingredients for the rolls are covered for the next three weeks.

I’m happy to donate my time, because I enjoy making these things and I truly believe they enhance both staff and student morale.

-David Blanchard

Something as simple as sharing leftover caramel rolls has sparked a community effort to help a local teacher make and share more. It doesn't get much sweeter than that.