Forget about Snow Days and Picture Day and Spirit Days. The day Wylie High School students get excited about this semester is Cookie Day!
“Everyone loves it,” said Wylie culinary arts student Anna White. “People are always asking when is Cookie Day. It’s so much time and energy, but it’s really gratifying.”
Wylie teacher Jill Harris got the idea for Cookie Day from Beaumont High School, where culinary arts and functional academics were teaming up to sell cookies. She thought it was a great idea and approached Wylie functional academics teacher Chance Kilpatrick.
“I thought it was awesome,” Kilpatrick said. “Any type of way that we can have our kids have inclusion at school is amazing. They have loved it. They are learning so many skills that they can take with them into the real world.”
Once per month the culinary arts students and the functional academics students bake 2,000 cookies, package them up and go around the school and sell each package of two cookies for $1. The graphic design classes made signs that teachers can post on their door if they want the cookie salesmen to stop.
Students love it.
“The first time we did it we sold out,” Harris said. “Everyone has been so positive about it. I had one teacher who said I’ve never seen anything that boosted morale like this.”
Culinary student Avery Cousins said the response has been amazing.
“We sell out really quickly,” she said. “There are a lot of kids who want cookies. It’s always a good response. Some kids buy 20 bags. It’s really fun.” 
Avery said she also liked the fact that the program involved more than just culinary arts and functional academics. Graphic design, accounting and the Purple Dog Company are helping as well.
“It’s a bunch of different classes, and we can all do something big together,” Avery said. “It’s a really great way to raise funds, so we can have more money for our labs.”
So far, the culinary arts students have bought cookie sheets and cooling racks for their labs, as well as T-shirts for all the participants.
Avery said that she has also enjoyed working with the students in functional academics. 
“They’ve gotten really good at making cookies,” she said. “They do everything.”
Nasir Bo, a senior functional academics student, said he loves Cookie Day.
“I learned how to bake stuff,” he said. “I’m making chocolate chip and snickerdoodles. They are $1.”
He said his favorite cookie is snickerdoodles, and he loves delivering the cookies and seeing his friends.
Kilpatrick said the program has been good for his kids. 
“They are helping prepare – measuring, making the dough,” he said. “They get to help package cookies. They are learning math, taking money. We are learning a lot.”
Although Cookie Day has been a huge win for Wylie High School, it is a lot of work for the culinary arts students, who have seen first-hand how much really hard work having a cookie business can be.
“It’s a lot of stress, but it’s a lot of benefit too,” Anna said. “You get to see the smiles on people’s faces when we come to the door to sell cookies. It has grown into a really great opportunity for a lot of people.”