SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Public district students are eating Hay River eggs for breakfast and lunch, according to superintendent Metro Huculak.

Tachara Adjun, 12, of Marie-Francoise Le Doze's grade 7 and 8 Mildred Hall School cooking class, prepares an omelette, last Friday, with eggs donated to the school by Hay River's Polar Egg. The company shipping 120 dozen eggs per month to Yellowknife's public district schools in September 2015. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo

Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) has received 8,400 eggs since September 2015 from Northern egg producer Polar Egg, and February's shipment - which will include an extra batch earmarked for needy families - promises to be the biggest yet, said Huculak.

"Polar Egg is going to be delivering an extra 60 dozen egg containers on Feb. 1 that we'll be distributing to needy families," said Huculak.

Huculak said the Hay River company also shelled out 100 dozen eggs for the district's pancake breakfast fundraiser held in August 2015.

He said the contribution is helping to ensure district students aren't going to class on an empty stomach.

"It's definitely helping," Huculak said, adding the company is looking at ways it can help out even more, which could include hiring kitchen staff.

Kevin Wallington - a marketing and sales representative for Polar Egg - said the eggs are just the start. He said the company is looking at providing some Yk1 schools with cooking staff to take breakfast programs in city schools "to the next level."

"Eggs in particular are a pretty big jump for breakfast programs," said Wallington. "Programs with milk, yogurt, fruit or cereal are a little simpler than a food that has to be cooked. Somebody has to do the work."

Wallington visited the last meeting of Yk1 trustees on Jan. 12, where Board Chair John Stephenson thanked him for the eggs and presented him with a plaque.

The company became interested in feeding students shortly after they began operating in December 2013, said Wallington, when - as new members of the NWT egg producers board - they became affiliated with Egg Farmers of Canada, which represents more than 1,000 egg farmers nationwide and runs the national Get Cracking breakfast campaign. They started by donating eggs to schools and soup kitchens in Hay River before getting involved with Yk1, said Wallington.

Huculak said all district schools serve snacks like fruit and granola bars but students at Sir John Franklin High School, Mildred Hall School, K'alemi Dene School in Ndilo and Kay Tay Whee School in Dettah are treated to a fresh-cooked breakfast and lunch. Meals at the high school are prepared by chef Travis Stewart, while staff at Mildred Hall School take turns in the kitchen, he said. K'alemi Dene School meals are prepared by one kitchen staff member and students at Kay Tay Whee School eat meals prepared by principal Lea Lamoureux and her husband, said Huculak.

But if Wallington's plan goes accordingly, the people whipping up breakfast and lunch for Yk1 could be paid Polar Egg employees by next school year.

Wallington said they're looking at the schools to figure out what is needed.

"We're going to take a look at which schools are in which positions. How many need eggs? How many need cooking carts or actual materials and capital for their programs?" he said. "And some of them may just need some help offsetting the cost of having members of their team having to do this work. And we want to see if there is a way we can partner with other organizations, other funders, to meet the needs of breakfast programs and take them up to the next level."

Ryan Nichols - vice-principal at Mildred Hall School - said the eggs arrive at the beginning of the month in big brown cardboard boxes, find their way onto the breakfast and lunch menu, or are used by cooking classes, or distributed to needy families.

On Friday, Tachara Adjun, 12, of Mildred Hall School, cracked six of the Hay River eggs to make an omelette during Marie-Francoise Le Doze's Grade 7 and 8 cooking class.

Nichols said eggs are a good choice for young students because they're nutritious and can be used in a wide variety of meals.

"We try to incorporate eggs into as many meals as we can," he said.