John J Sark Memorial Elementary School, Lennox Island First Nation, PEI
Grant term, 2023-2024
We had two main goals with this grant money. Our first was to give students an opportunity to experience a variety of food sources that our local lands and waters provide. The second was to teach a variety of ways of growing or producing their own food.
We have 51 children who attend the school and in grades pre kindergarten to six. We were able to involve all age levels in our activities. Many of the activities we engaged in were relevant and important to Mi’kmaq culture and values.
We are very happy with the level of engagement and interest students of all ages had with these activities. Teachers were able to integrate many curriculum outcomes and skills into each experience as students were eager to learn more. Most of these activities involved getting out into fresh air and being physically active, so the health benefit were great. We also witnessed a lot of relationship building, problem solving, and emotional regulation happening amongst students and staff!
Growing Food
Planting
Students took on a variety of gardening projects including a salad tower, potato bags, and a pole bean and pea tepee. We also planted some raspberry bushes.
Hatching Eggs
An incubator was purchased, and we hatched out Orrpington chickens who we hope to get eggs from once they are grown.
Harvesting and Cooking or Processing Local Food Sources from the Land
Wild Plant Foraging
We were able to purchase the supplies to identify, gather, and process a variety of local plants and berries. One of our favorite activities was making pickles from the shoots of cattails.
Soft Shelled Clams
We purchased the rakes, shovels, buckets etc. for harvesting soft shelled clams.
Maple Tree Tapping and Syrup Making
We can’t wait to do this again next year! The sap we collected and boiled into syrup was delicious and we are planning to make much more, so we can share it with the community.
Fishing
We have a variety of delicious and healthy fish in our waters including trout, bass, mackerel, flounder, and salmon. So far we have tried our hand at sea bass, and though not successful, we plan to try again! Our hope is to catch enough that we can learn to clean and filet, then cook the fish in a variety of ways.
