Life lessons

Some local elementary school students have exchanged pens and paper for rolling pins and saw blades.

The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board implemented its culinary arts and wood shop programs to Bishop E.Q. Jennings School, Bishop Gallagher Senior Elementary School and Pope John Paul II School at the start of September. The schools received renovations and shop and culinary classrooms.

Lisa Mirabelli, the culinary arts teacher at Bishop Gallagher, had worked as the homeroom teacher for nine years with the school, but once she heard about the culinary program she began taking courses to qualify for the position.

Mirabelli started her students on making muffins, breakfast smoothies and other easy to make foods after a safety course on how to cut properly in the first week of school. She said she wants her students to learn life skills and to eat and prepare healthy foods.

"This is empowering them with the tools that they need to take care of themselves," Mirabelli said. "The earlier that they are introduced to these skills the more likely they are to adopt cooking and nutrition on their own."

Later in the semester, Mirabelli said they would introduce cultural foods such as wild rice and bannock.
While some students learned to cook, right next door the other half of the class started on their woodwork shop projects.

Braelyn Salagi, 13, in Grade 8 started to put together her box that she measured, cut and painted herself. She said she would be taking the shop class this semester and then take the cooking class the following semester.

"I think it’s awesome that we get to try a new subject and learn how to work with wood and tools," Braelyn said. "I think what I like best is that we actually get to make something hands on and we do it ourselves. We don’t have to write anything down on paper…we just have fun."

Braelyn said she enjoys projects where she can be creative and shop class was a good outlet for her to express that creativity.

Bob Hupka, chair of the Catholic District School Board, said if the first year goes well then the board may look to implement the two programs in more of its schools. The board spent about $400,000 to renovate the classroom at Bishop Gallagher to be a shop class, he said.

"We’re definitely thinking of expanding the program because it has been so popular with everyone," Hupka said. "It’s basically the old style of home ec and learning to cook and build certain things that they can make themselves."

What the program aims to do is to teach children the basics such as cooking when they are looking after themselves, he said.