Breakfast program sets kids on healthy path
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
And because of that ability, the 14-year-old resident of Arctic Bay makes sure his fellow students at Inuujaq school continue to dip their spoons into their bowls of hot and cold cereal each morning.
"I want to help the school. It makes me feel good, real good and proud," said Attagutsiak, of the daily role he plays in ensuring that students get the nutritional kick they need in the morning.
One of the regular learners to finish up his work at 3:45 p.m., Attagutsiak goes from classroom to classroom delivering cereal for the free breakfast program. He said the volunteer work makes him feel good because he can personally see the results of his efforts.
"We make sure the kids are eating so they can learn better in school. They're listening better in their classes."
He even goes so far as to recruit his friend Joshua Ejanjiaq to help pass out the cereal.
"It's hard when the kids are teasing you," agreed Ejanjiaq.
"Sometimes they stop and sometimes they keep teasing, but I like doing it. Tyson tells me I have to."
And the contributions of the youthful pair don't go unnoticed. In charge of overseeing the breakfast program and making sure the day-to-day operations run smoothly, teacher Dennis Hubble takes none of the glory for his own work.
"The team of students deserve all the credit for that," he said.
"They deliver the next day's material to the classrooms and do the lion's share of the lugging and loading. They want to help and they deserve credit for it," said Hubble.
Started by former Inuujaq school principal Laurie Barton in 1996, the program was launched with federal dollars earmarked to make sure that as many kids as possible ate breakfast before their school day started.
The program kept growing and the donations kept increasing until Barton sought the help of her colleague Hubble. When she moved to the south last year, he was left holding the bag and the program is still going strong.
Thanking sponsors like Nanisivik mine, Quaker Oatmeal and Fednav Canada for their generous help and assistance, Hubble said he knew the combined efforts had made a solid difference where it counted most.
"I know the kids are happy to have it."
