Teacher: Jean-Marc (JM) Duchesne

It all began through a video conference in August 2022 with a public awareness group out of Toronto, SMILES FOR SACHE (smileforsache.org) and an educational organization promoting positive change, ELEPHANT THOUGHTS (elephantthoughts.com). Through their mentorship the Entrepreneurship Program students of James Bay Eeyou School (JBES) in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi identified a local problem in local youth: boredom often leads to substance abuse.

 

From that identified problem we collated data to create an after-school activity that could alleviate the issue. Thus was created The Epic Cooking Challenge. A weekly competition while having fun, making new friends, learning, innovating, and youth who just like to prepare everyday foodie favourites such as Hot Dogs, Mac and Cheese, Cookies and Cree traditional Bannock in creative fashion.