Jens Haven Memorial School – which opened in 1987 – is a Grade 4-12 school in Nain, Labrador. Currently, there are about 227 students at Jens Haven Memorial School (JHMS) that will all benefit from this initiative.

To equip the students with the skills they need to live healthy lives, JHMS decided they would like to enhance and upgrade their Home Economics Room, providing modern kitchen equipment. The upgrades allowed JHMS to offer a rich Home Economics program. In their previous four kitchen areas, the ranges were old, and a few were in various states of disrepair.

Each kitchen is now fully equipped with the basics in kitchen technology: including a food processor, stand mixer, hand mixer, microwave, and a range with self-cleaning and air fry feature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The updated kitchens have inspired the students and built up their confidence. They are proud to have the new appliances. Unpacking the boxes was just like Christmas. When a teenaged boy beams with pride over his group’s new mixer, you know you’ve made the right choices,” says Juanita Skanes, Assistant Principal at JHMS.

After receiving their new equipment, it wasn’t long before classes started cooking labs in their new Home Economics room! The grade 5 classes have used the new space 3 different times, baking muffins, bread, and even making pancakes and pizza!

“I feel the need to invest in a learning environment that encourages students to enter a state of flow and allows them to achieve the highest functioning state by improving their skills to innovate, communicate and collaborate,” says grade 5 teacher Susan Eskandari. “Grade five students were able to collaborate in small groups, communicate, and unleash their creativity by actually doing instead of only reading and studying.”

The Grade 6 class used their new stovetops to make hot chocolate for students in their grades 4 and 5 classes, and baked yummy red berry muffins, which included a recipe that related to their math class relating to fractions, percents, and ratios!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms. Julie Dicker has used the space with her Inuktitut 2120/3120 classes as well. Students have been learning to prepare traditional dishes like panitsiat (fried dough), soups and stews. The new appliances make the cooking experience easier and allow students to share traditional knowledge and practices. During the cooking process, students develop their Inuktitut language skills as well.

Food security is a huge challenge in Nunatsiavut. Recent surveys showed that at least 75% of households in Nain have experienced some degree of food insecurity. Access to traditional foods has been severely limited due to the caribou ban. Families have had to find alternative sources of nourishment. Nunatsiavut Government and other agencies have worked diligently to provide traditional foods and alternatives to caribou (like moose from Newfoundland or caribou and musk ox from Nunavut). Some essential resources in the community are The Nain Community Freezer, Nigivik Centre (provides cooking programs, bagged lunches, food pickups, etc.) and TaKauKuatik – Nain Food Bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making healthy food choices is integral to the overall wellness of all of us. Food prices, increasing fuel and ammunition prices, and lack of access to transportation for hunting and gathering are some challenges that students and their families face. It is vital that students understand not only their nutritional needs, but also acquire the skills to help them prepare foods using healthier methods and to make economical food choices.

JHMS is trying to equip their students with the skills they need to make healthy choices for themselves and their families, to enable them to be effective consumers who make efficient use of “smart” shopping strategies.

“With issues of food insecurity, we want to give our students options and ideas for preparing healthy meals for themselves and their families. The grant from IGA has allowed us to do that,” says Ms. Skanes.