THUNDER BAY -- Staff at a local Catholic school were up early to make sure students celebrated Shrove Tuesday.
Around 20 staff were in the kitchen at Pope John Paul II Senior Elementary School around 7 a.m. to make 1,500 pancakes for more than 600 students.
“This is when you’re suppose to take all of the fats and all of the sweets and have it before you have your 40 days of lent,” vice-principal Shelley Taylor said.
Lent is the time for Catholics to forgo certain indulgences starting Wednesday. But before that, students got to indulge in the pancakes, served by some familiar faces including police chief J.P. Levesque, fire chief John Hay and Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board director Joan Powell.
“They’re absolutely thrilled,” Taylor said of the students. “They’re always happy when they’re eating.”
The kids were also given healthy choices like fruit, juice and yogurt as part of the school’s breakfast program. Taylor said she’s proud of the steps the school has taken to make sure students have a good breakfast.
“Last year we determined that only a third of our students were eating breakfast,” she said. “If our students have breakfast in the morning they are able to focus better and it’s proven that they’ll have higher grades.”
