From the earth an oven is built, layer by layer. Traditional bread making is an art being lost as fast as the mud eroding from the wood-fired ovens in Hopi land each passing year.

Students from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy spent weekends this school year repairing bread ovens on the Hopi Reservation, learning about food traditions and taking back their knowledge to share with the community.

“Going up to the reservation is like going to a foreign land’’ for some students, social studies teacher Ben Anderson said.

Oven Built Near Museum of Northern Arizona

A new bread oven was built recently near the entrance of the Museum of Northern Arizona. The oven will be used for special events at the museum including public demonstrations during the museum’s annual Hopi Marketplace, Mr. Anderson said.

Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy is one of five schools in Arizona selected through the Arizona Heritage Project to study a local aspect of history and culture. The school chose to expand on its Hopi service-learning project. Students are required to complete 30 hours of community service each year, principal Kirk Quitter said.

The study of Hopi culture helps Flagstaff students view a part of the community differently.

“Their culture is incredibly vibrant and dynamic. It is rooted in tradition and changing with the times,’’ Mr. Anderson said.

It’s something students, like sophomore Isabelle Brosnahan would rather experience than read in a textbook.

“I think I’m a lot more aware of the Hopi culture and how it’s becoming more rare and how important it is to save it,’’ Ms. Brosnahan said.

Ms. Brosnahan was part of the first group to build the base of the oven and she helped remud a piki house, which is used to bake piki.

While there, her group experienced a traditional Hopi meal.

“Piki making usually is a tradition passed down generation to generation, an ongoing thing, but it’s becoming a lost art,’’ Ms. Brosnahan said. “I felt honored to make it because a lot of Hopi girls aren’t.’’

She had traveled through the reservation before but had never spent time there, like she did with this project.

Already this year, the school has sent groups of 10 to 12 students to visit the Hopi. In all, about 45 students from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy have participated, Mr. Anderson said.

The experience gave freshman Mariah Alexander more respect for Hopi culture “and how hard it is to go for tradition.’’

Some people buy their bread instead of make it, she said, and this gives her greater respect for people who choose to make it the traditional way, she said.

Ms. Alexander was involved with the second group to visit Hopi and complete the oven there.

The project is being completed in conjunction with the U.S. Library of Congress. It is being documented and archived at the library in Washington, D.C.

The bread oven project is funded through the Arizona Heritage Project. Salt River Project and Wells Fargo are among the sponsors.

The school is continuing with the heritage project next year. —