Central Avenue Public School in Elliot Lake, with just under 200 students, has regular meal programs that help contribute to the students reaching their nutritional needs.
School principal Angelo D’Amato says he is amazed at how generous the Elliot Lake community is in regard to the fresh produce and funding donated to the school on a regular basis.
D’Amato, principal for 15 years, said he was born and raised in Elliot Lake, left to attend university, spent time with his wife in the Arctic, then returned to Elliot Lake to serve as school principal.
“All the cooking is done voluntarily by staff and students,” said D’Amato.
The school recently renovated a kitchen, which is half commercial and half home appliances.
For the breakfast program, covering all grades, the staff volunteer every morning and fill plastic containers with various types of food, such as fresh cut fruit and yogurt, then distribute it to the classrooms. Students select what they would like to eat.
At lunch time, they have a class on cooking skills, cleaning the kitchen, nutrition and portion sizes.
They prepare about 15 lunches per day and distribute them to any student who may come in without a lunch.
“The kids just know where to get it,” said D’Amato. The program is open to everyone.
“Once a week, I’ll cook for 100 kids and then the next week for the other 100 kids,” said D’Amato. “We have served quesadillas, stuffed peppers, chili, soup, soup and a sandwich, rice dishes with chicken and vegetables, garlic spaghetti, a nice green salad, and a taco salad.”
“Sometimes the kids will come in with recipes and say, 'This is my mom’s favourite recipe. Want to try it?'“
On Fridays, they make two or three meals to send home with students whose families may need them.
“The amount of money we spend on food for the kids is huge,” said D’Amato. “It’s a great way to build community. It’s the way I was brought up.”
Part of their food budget is covered by Algoma Family Services, which gives money every year, and support is received from local produce providers.
They recently received a box of tomatoes and a box of peppers. “This week, we received a box of strawberries. The kids really enjoyed that,” D’Amato said.
“We do an annual fundraiser, the Blue and Gold,” said D’Amato. “We raised $15,000 last year.”
The money goes towards buying food, but also to assist with occasional needs for individual students, like buying special sports shoes, or covering the cost of the end of year school trip.
“I get people on a regular basis coming in and give money for the school,” said D’Amato. Last week they received cheques for $500 and $1,700.
“It’s amazing how generous people are.”
He said the hospital fundraising program also gives the school funding. “Everybody wants to help.”
One of the educational programs they have at the school to build global awareness that ties in with the meal program consists of a large map of the world in the hallway where they keep track of how many miles the students walk each week.
They select a city or province to “visit” and decide on a popular food that would be eaten in that area.
When they chose Montreal as a learning site, the students wanted to eat poutine. D’Amato said “Andrew at Fireside” donated a large order of poutine for the students.
When they studied Prince Edward Island, they ate twice-baked potatoes. They are planning to study New York City soon and the students want New York fries, but D’Amato said he hasn’t decided yet what he’ll do.
“We have families from different countries... so we try to land on their country.” He said some of the families come in and cook the special foods from that country for the students.
“I ordered a 10-pound bag of coins from around the world,” said D’Amato. If a student is "caught doing something good” the student is allowed to reach into the bag and select a coin, providing positive reinforcement.
Next week, they’re having hash browns, eggs and ham for the last day before the Christmas break. “The staff will come in and start serving breakfast for all the students at 9 a.m. and all 200 students will be fed by 10:30 a.m.”
D’Amato said he would like to stress how hard the staff and volunteers work to provide the meals, and how generous the entire community is.
“Often I don’t have to go out and ask for money, people just show up and give.”