Each school in Western School Division has developed a School Nutrition Plan to support student learning. Each school tailor-fit their plans to meet the goals and needs of the students in each school.
Maple Leaf Elementary School
At Maple Leaf Elementary, resource teacher Asten Mcgill has taken over the nutrition program at Maple Leaf Elementary noted three staff members who have their food handling certificates work together to offer students three opportunities to access food each day.
"Breakfast is from 8:15 to 8:50 and then a snack option at morning and afternoon recess. There have been occasions where a lunch has been forgotten or a student just needs a little bit more to get them through the day, in which case our staff is happy to provide that as well. The breakfast program is run by one of our educational assistants, and she does that before she begins her regular duties. And the nutrition support person works several hours a week, and their job is prepping, ordering groceries, they do some baking for us, they check expiry dates, chop bag up snacks. It's kind of an evolving position. She's always going to have new and creative ways to offer new snacks to our students."
Next, it was important to work on the logistics of buying, preparing, planning, and managing the food safely for all in a culturally respectful way with a variety of options.
"We ended up choosing an open-door policy. Snack is available to any and all who need it. We did have a few hiccups where the students were taking more than their share and we would run out of food quickly. So, how we handled that was to bring it back to the students and ask them how we could solve this (problem). The students are now really good at reminding each other to take only one item at a time and to check if they have other snacks from home as well. One even went so far as to create posters with reminders for everyone about the snack etiquette."
Maple Leaf Elementary School Principal Cindy Dick said the program fits in with the school culture.
"The food program just fits in really nicely and what we expect our students to behave and how they respond, and it's just been very positive with the students and parents and staff. We all know that foods are very important for children to learn. It helps with their concentration and the comment about food being social, that's really important because we value connectedness at our school, we value kids connecting with each other and connecting with their teachers and all our staff here at the school."
She added the highlight of this program for her.
"I love that we are exploring different types of foods, and I love that we are exploring different cultures of our different representatives in our school population. The fact that we are going to add some things like mangoes and rice that would fit with some familiar foods, and the fact that kids are eating foods that they wouldn't normally eat but it's still all very nutritious, it warms our hearts."
Most of the programs are just starting up in the other schools. They have submitted brief descriptions of their programs.
Minnewasta Elementary School
We were very excited to learn that the government supplied schools with money to help support nutritional snacks/foods for our students.
At Minnewasta we currently have a large snack bowl just inside our office doors that all students have access to throughout the day! It is frequently restocked to make sure that all students have an opportunity to take something when they need it. We currently have close to 250 students at our school and many of them access the snack bowl on a daily/weekly basis to help make sure they are not hungry while learning at school.
Things have progressed very well. Some of our school teams have met several times over the past month and are looking forward to “adding” a component to our nutritional program. We plan to offer a smaller “breakfast program” with very simple options (cereal, toast, etc.). We are currently in the planning stage and are hopeful that we can get things running soon. The breakfast program will be held in one of our school classrooms, facilitated by a staff member at Minnewasta School, and take place before school begins. When we have more information about when this program will start, and how it will be organized, we will be sure to let our students, parents, and school community know.
École Discovery Trails (EDT)
At École Discovery Trails, we’re excited to introduce a universal school nutrition program that offers students healthy snack options each week. This program, featuring a rotating selection of fruits, vegetables, dairy, and grain products, gives students the freedom to choose nutritious snacks during recess while still allowing them to bring snacks from home if they prefer. To ensure equitable access, we’ve created a rotating schedule, so every student has a regular opportunity to participate. This initiative reflects our commitment to fostering a healthy school culture that supports the well-being and choices of our students, helping them build lasting habits for a balanced lifestyle.
École Morden Middle School (EMMS)
Currently at our school we are setting up our universal food program. We have been meeting a small school team to plan our program and have been working with our local CO-OP grocery store as well. We are doing a morning starter snack program. All 28 homerooms have a storage container purchased for them, to store snacks that have a long shelf life (granola bars, crackers etc). From 830-855 the canteen is open to grade 7 and 8 students for snacks that will include a variety of fruit, yogurt and cheese. Grade 5 and 6 students will be able to access the canteen for the same items during first recess. We have ordered new fridge/freezers to accommodate storage for the perishable food, and will be ordering and receiving deliveries through our local Coop.
Morden Collegiate Institute (MCI)
Our new nutrition program at Morden Collegiate aims to ensure students can start each day with a healthy snack, while fostering positive connections with the teaching staff. We've been able to allocate funds from our nutrition grant money to employ a staff member to prepare healthy snacks each morning. They will work with our youth guidance support and supervising teachers to distribute snacks at no cost to students on two newly ordered snack carts, stationed at designated areas supervised by teaching staff.
This setup offers students a chance to connect with their teachers as they pick up their snack, encouraging a sense of community and relationship-building as students begin their day. We are working to make food orders, and the plan is to roll out our healthy snacks this month.