Cupcakes, cupcakes, everywhere – and a room full of smiles.

That was the scene earlier this summer in the Russellville High School Family and Consumer Sciences classroom.

Teacher Cindy Coan has, each summer from 2017 forward, offered her popular Cooking with Coan program for students once a week as part of the 21st Century Community Learning Center PAWS program.

Russellville Elementary School students in the program received pre-made cupcakes to adorn with frosting, sprinkles and festive decorations.

“Cooking with Coan is one of the highlights of our summer program,” explained PAWS site coordinator Angela Crittenden. “The students look forward to it each week, and the cupcakes are their favorite activity.”

Each student received three cupcakes and had the option to eat one right away.

“The kids look forward to these days,” agreed teacher’s aide Sydney Medley. “They need that. It’s wonderful to see them having fun. They get to learn about cooking, and some of them don’t learn about that at home.”

Coan said she loves “how excited the kids are about cupcake day. It’s one of their favorite projects to get to do. They love getting to use the piping bag.”

She explained it’s all about teaching critical skills in a way that makes the lesson interesting.

“I enjoy seeing them having fun and getting to be exposed to new things,” she said. “You want summer vacation to be a fun time. They’re making memories and learning a lot of new skills while having fun.”