Fueling up!
Breakfast program has come long way from humble beginnings in Chester
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
CHESTERFIELD INLET
With March being nutrition month in Nunavut, spotlights are being cast on people and programs across the territory that stand out for the effort they make to be far from ordinary.
Jolene Ippiak prepares pancakes before 7 a.m. at Victor Sammurtok School (VSS) in Chesterfield Inlet this past month. The VSS breakfast program plays a vital role in the students' daily routine. - NNSL file photo |
That's certainly true at Victor Sammurtok School (VSS) in Chesterfield Inlet, where breakfast cook Rina Issaluk created a balanced two-week menu with at least three of the four food groups.
Issaluk is known to get creative in order to boost the nutritional value of breakfast at the school.
The efforts of folks like her are always appreciated, but, as in many schools across the North, the real star is the breakfast program itself.
Vice-principal Ana Leishman said the school receives government funding that allows for it to have nutritious breakfast available to the students every school morning from 8:30 to almost 9 a.m.
She said the past two years a part of the funding has been used to pay for a cook two hours a day, for four days a week.
"Rina comes in every morning between 6:30 and 7 a.m., and she makes almost anything you can name for the kids," said Leishman.
"On our fifth morning, either students in my split Grade 9/10 class or Glen's (Brocklebank) split Grade 11/12 class will use their cooking class to prepare a breakfast for the following day.
"Sometimes they'll make pancakes for us to heat up the next morning, and they've made French toast and an egg casserole with hash browns and ham, and there's always a piece of fruit present to try to make it a balanced breakfast."
The VSS breakfast program has come a long way since its humble beginnings of fruit bars and juice more than a decade ago.
Numerous studies have shown students perform significantly better academically when they start their day with a balanced breakfast or, at least, a healthy snack.
Leishman said she knows from experience when you give kids food in the morning, their bellies are full and their brains are ready to go.
She said many students have breakfast at home, but there are times every child doesn't eat enough or races out the door to catch the bus without eating, and when those things happen the school's breakfast program is waiting to put some food in their bellies.
"We average serving about 50 kids every morning, and sometimes that number will go as high as 70.
"Having a good breakfast program is huge in terms of helping kids perform better in class, and we have a lot less distracted kids.
"As adults we all know what it feels like to get hungry and not be able to think about anything else, so it's no surprise it's the same way for kids.
"Food is fuel, and we all need fuel in our bodies to be able to do things during the day, and, the morning can often be a hard time to get anybody going, so it's always important to give your kid fuel in the morning to get them going."
