The Mosaic School Nutrition Challenge invites schools to enter a contest that explains the importance of nutrition in school success and outlines the importance of nutrition learning in and out of the classroom. From the contest entrants, ten schools in the province were selected to receive a $15,000 grant to support student nutrition programs.  

Wynyard Elementary School celebrates being one of those recipients.  

“The Mosaic School Nutrition Challenge has supported student nutrition across Saskatchewan for 18 years, making it one of our longest partnerships,” says Marnel Jones, Mosaic’s Director of Government and Public Affairs – Canada. “Through the Challenge, students learn first-hand to grow food, the importance of nutrition, and have the opportunity to create healthy environments in their schools. Congratulations to this year’s ten winning schools.” 

The winning projects have goals including implementing or expanding nutrition programs, promoting cooking and gardening, enhancing facilities, increasing educational opportunities, and supporting projects with cultural components. These will be supported by the grants. 

Wynyard Elementary School Principal Michael Jordan was delighted at the news, saying that the funding will go a long way to support their efforts. 

“We started a breakfast nutrition program last school year and carried it on into this school year. We relied heavily on our local community groups and personal donations, which is great. But we’ve kind of hit our max, and we are feeding about a hundred kids every day for breakfast. So, this grant is something we’re very excited about.” 

In addition to supplying funds for the breakfast program, the grant will also provide for a replacement oven for the school’s food preparation area, along with a new cook top, a dishwasher and a freezer to help maintain the volume of food they need. The new equipment will also support the school’s curriculum.  

“We have a life-skills program at Wynyard Elementary. It provides for varying ways of learning which includes helping to cook, clean, distribute, and keep records of food. It’s a very unique program and we’re very proud of it.”  

Teachers Leslie Otsig and Yvonne Chorney were largely responsible for completing the application that helped realize the vision of the program.