Apex students learn home cooking
More than 100 community members attend feast
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
IQALUIT
More than 100 people filled Nanook Elementary School's gym for a home-cooked feast from students earlier this month.
Kopa Mike, right, digs into the feast at Nanook Elementary School in Apex. Students have been preparing for the feast all year. Elders ate first at the feast. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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The feast was to celebrate a year of work by the school's student cooking club. People from the school's community of Apex and Iqaluit crowded the gym, with many eating in the hall to find space.
"They've been working all year learning how to prepare dishes," said Principal Mathew Knickelbein.
"The last four months they've been preparing, storing and freezing and building up a supply so it accumulates."
Parents and community members attended the feast, which was a culmination of the students' effort.
On display were stuffed baked potatoes, homemade quiches, meatballs, bannock, spaghetti, ham, cakes, chicken, fries and all manner of desserts.
"It was fun," said nine-year-old Brian Mathewsie, who took part in the cooking club.
"The hardest part was making chicken and fries."
He said that cooking was a useful skill to learn.
"Food is an important issue in Nunavut these days," said Knickelbein.
"Food security, making healthy choices with food, stretching a buck, making your budget go as far as possible, cooking things from scratch as opposed to buying ready-made TV dinners. The kids learned a couple of basic recipes for how they could cook for themselves or share with their families."
Trays of food stretched wall-to-wall in one end of the gym.
"This was four months of Fridays," said Knickelbein.
He said the students were clearly proud.
"You can see it on their faces," said Knickelbein. "They're just beaming. They couldn't wait to share what they made with their families and friends and community."
Live music and a slide show of Apex photos accompanied the feast.
Students went home with certificates of participation and cookbooks. They were recognized in front of the audience for their hard work before the feast began.
Guests went home full.
Knickelbein hopes to see the program continue.
"This is the first year we've had this and I hope it continues for many years to come," he said.
