LANGLEY — It was a big week for four very special Langley Middle School students.

In fact, it was huge; the moment when all their hard work really paid off.

Last Wednesday, the four members of DeAnn Ross’ life-skills class — Dylan Oposhyan, Michael Hawkins, Ben Sherlock and Talia Petosa — were recognized by the South Whidbey School Board for their collective culinary efforts.

The next day, the kids showed up at the Island County Fairgrounds for their first riding lesson; in fact, their first time ever on a horse.

“These four children have a variety of intellectual and physical skills,” Ross explained. “My class is designed to let them become as independent as possible as adults.”

After running across a brochure for HOPE Therapeutic Riding Center’s program in Langley, Ross thought horseback riding would work well for her nascent life-management class.

But the first challenge was how to pay for riding lessons.

Ross came up with a plan to integrate the skills she wanted to impart with a goal-setting exercise.

So she started the Cougar Bakery project.

Each Wednesday, her students develop recipes for baked goods, go to the Star Store in Langley to buy needed ingredients, then bake, sell and deliver the results to middle school classrooms and the school district office staff.

They charge a buck for each item. To date, they’ve baked pumpkin scones, cookies, carrot cake, brownies, lemon bars and seven-layer “Cougar bars.”

“Money raised goes to pay for the ingredients and any profit is set aside for riding lessons,” Ross said. “We had some start-up help from a few anonymous donors, but the kids are doing all the work.”

Initially, they were using an old television cart, clunky and ugly but serviceable.

When middle school woodshop teacher Tom Sage spotted the kids trundling down the hall one day, he was inspired to do something.

“Just before Christmas, Tom — we call him ‘Santa Sage’ — presented us with a beautiful, wheeled cart with a tiled top and shelves. The kids feel very much more professional as a result,” Ross said. She added that the new cart allowed them to offer tea and coffee with the baked goods.

She said that during the past several months the students learned how to read measurements, how to follow directions, how to turn the ovens in the home ec class to the right temperature and, of course, money management.

Not to mention acquiring the necessary social-interaction skills needed to sell the goodies they created.

Ross said the response by teachers, staff and students has been overwhelmingly supportive.

“At the beginning, I didn’t know if this project would fly, but thought it was worth a go,” Ross said. “As it turned out, everyone wanted to participate.”

Eventually, they had the money they needed. “Karen [Newman] at HOPE gave each kid a scholarship and came up with an ‘LMS discount.’ Two weeks ago, we had an assessment between students and their mounts.

“Last Thursday, they saddled up for real.”

As they got closer to their individual rides, Ross said she could see and feel the kids’ self-confidence growing as their fear dissipated.

Ben’s father, Brian Sherlock, opted to stay away from his son’s horseback adventure.

“We felt his peers would have more influence on his decision to ride than his parents, and it worked,” Sherlock said. “This has been a fantastic program for him and his classmates. It teaches them that everything in life that’s worth having, is worth working for.”

Sherlock added that dealing with people has had a positive impact on Ben’s attitude and outlook on life.

“Ben is God’s gift to us, a happy boy with an innocent spirit who pats us on the back when we feel down,” he noted. “He loves to be around people, and makes those he meets smile.”

School district administrative assistant Sue Terhar said the award to Ross and her students was well-deserved.

“They all worked very hard and it paid off, on so many levels,” she said. “And, oh my, their brownies with coffee frosting were to die for.”

What’s next on the menu?

“If Dylan, Ben, Michael and Talia can learn to bake and ride a horse, why can’t they be authors?” Ross asked.

“We’re thinking about putting out a cookbook.”

Donations to the LMS life-skills program — small or large, anonymous or otherwise — can be made by calling Ross at 221-6198, ext. 3109.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.