LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
Almost 200 residents attended a community feast organized by staff and students at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells on April 25, according to principal Michael Duclos.

Sheila and Oakley Duclos enjoy the community feast hosted by students and staff at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells on April 25. - photo courtesy of Michael Duclos

“There was a really great turnout,” he said. “We did really well.”

Duclos said students and staff worked together to organize and cook for the event.

Teachers and staff even cooked turkeys, roasts and hams at home so they would be ready for the feast the next day.

Students in the after-school cooking program, which is available as a Career and Technology Studies (CTS) credit course, helped prepare and cook food as well.

Duclos said the program, which started in November, teaches students about healthy eating.

“It’s just a chance for some high school students to gain some extra credits and learn a bit about cooking and nutrition,” he said.

Grade 10 student Dakota Barney said his main jobs during the feast were cutting up fruit and helping to make soups, as well as assisting with cleaning up afterward.

Barney said he has always enjoyed making food for others, which prompted him to join the cooking program.

“I like cooking,” he said. “I kind of wanted to learn how to cook new things and different styles of cooking.”

He said helping with the feast provided a way for residents to provide feedback, giving students information they could use to modify recipes and make them better. “We get to hear about what they like and what they didn’t like,” Barney said. “From that, we can improve on what we made.”

Duclos said in addition to giving cooking students a chance to demonstrate their skills, the feast also highlighted the importance of healthy eating.

A grant from Nutrition North helped fund the cooking program, which includes an after-school snack making program for younger students.

Duclos said the community feast was a way to share the healthy eating habits students are learning at school with the community.

“It’s important, particularly in the North where we don’t always get the best produce and the healthiest options, that we educate people about trying to eat healthy and live healthy,” he said.

Duclos said if funding is available, staff and students would like to facilitate another community feast next year.