Staff and students of Three Lakes School in Middle Lake were delighted to receive the news that they had been selected as recipients of one of 10 awards in Mosaic’s School Nutrition Challenge. The $10 thousand dollar grants help schools to develop and enhance nutrition programs and facilities in recipient schools.

“Mosaic is proud to support the Mosaic School Nutrition Challenge, now in its 16th year, by funding 10 new, exciting projects,” said Sarah Fedorchuk, Vice President, Government and Public Affairs, North America. “The winning schools have identified innovative and inclusive ways to implement nutrition education and programming that will have a lasting impact on students and their schools.”

Three Lakes School was the only school in the Horizon School Division to get the nod for the award. Principal Nadine Jennison said plans are in place to put the funds to good use. The hope is to create a working space for food preparation to support the nutrition program and possibly some new curricular courses that support nutrition instruction.

“We’re upgrading our staff room into a multi-purpose room that’s going to be used for home economics and our before and after school program, and there might be a cooking club.”

The new space will also house the breakfast program that’s currently up and running. Home baking would be an option for the breakfasts, and the new equipment will also be put to use when the school hosts occasional hot lunches. 

“We’ve been operating with one stove, so we’re super excited. We’re going to be putting in an island, so it’s a big workspace for the students, along with an extra fridge and stove and a pantry for all of our food.”

To this point, all home economics classes for the students had been held at the town hall. With the renovation, that instruction can be housed in the school creating a much more efficient situation. There is also the option to expand programming with the addition of commercial cooking classes for senior students. Planning is under way for the exact design with the project hopefully seeing completion for the fall. 

Making seasonal treats like Christmas cookies and Easter eggs will be easier and more special with the new equipment and new digs.