In grade 9, Nolan and Laura joined the Student Nutrition Program at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Secondary School which was based at a different school building while students and staff waited for their new secondary school to be built. Initially, they were drawn to it as a great way to get involved at school, including getting volunteer hours for high school. However, soon after they started, Nolan and Laura realized that the program was able to offer more than that.
When asked about getting involved Laura let us know, “As someone who knew students who often didn’t eat breakfast because of time, money, or simply because they forgot, I wanted to help bring accessible and healthy food options to students like them.”
The students took on a leadership role within the program, helping to ensure it had enough volunteers, planning the menu and taking on the all-important, although not glamorous, Safe Food Handling training for the program to make sure it was meeting the safe storage and serving of food for the students.
Nolan let us know, “At first, I got involved because of the volunteer hours but I still do it because I like making people happy.” The dedication from Laura and Nolan has helped ensure as their new school opened its doors to staff and students, that the program moved with them so students could continue to access the nutritious food they need to fuel their school day ahead.
Setting the foundation for this program has been extremely important as St. Kateri has grown from 250 to almost 1,500 students since its opening. To ensure the program is ready for them, Nolan and Laura with the guidance of Sahar Gouveia, CYC and the other program volunteers show up early each morning to prepare and set up nutritious food options for the students to take as they enter the school and head off to their first class.
We also asked them to share some of their favourite memories from volunteering at the program. Nolan shared, “There are a lot of great memories I will take with me, from making smoothies, to having fun talking with friends while we volunteer together. I am proud of the program I have helped to create during my time at the school.”
Laura added, “Some of my favourite memories are from when I had just started helping out with the program. I was at a brand-new school with only 250 students at the time! I knew everyone and saw the impact that the program had on my peers. Before, it was only Nolan, my teacher and I - I’m so happy to see how much the program has grown since then!”
As both Nolan and Laura are set to graduate this year, we wanted to thank them for all their hard work throughout their high school career in helping to ensure that students at St. Kateri had access to nourishing food each school day to help them reach their full potential.
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