PVSS Foods Classes Embrace Outdoor Learning

The Pleasant Valley Secondary School (PVSS) Foods classes have been taking advantage of the nice weather this fall to take their learning outdoors. The senior Foods classes started their semester by foraging berries to use in class. 

Teacher Elizabeth Woolnough explains that this past week, students took some time to learn about intentional heat control, as well as how to read and stoke fires to achieve the desired results when cooking.  

“These lessons were completed with my two Food Studies 11/12 classes. This is not the first time we have used fires in class. It is incorporated into both the Foods 10 and the senior Foods classes. In the past, we have made venison patties using cast iron pans, roasted hot dogs, and made bannock on many occasions. Learning how to read the heat and be patient while cooking is the goal. It is also a chance for students to slow down and spend time in community and be outdoors.”

For this class, Woolnough chose food items that required cooking in the coals of the fire, encouraging students to manipulate and stoke the flames. Bannock was prepared while veggie packs cooked in the coals.

“As always, getting proper coals and cooking food within a single class is a challenge, but it was a success. Students had to tend their own fires, moving and rotating their veggie packs while staying aware of the hot and cold spots in pit. They also slow-cooked bannock on sticks, once again reading the fire and observing how each area cooked the dough.”

While the students cooked, they discussed the colonial impact on reserves and how food rations like flour, lard, sugar, and eggs resulted in bannock becoming a survival food made from limited ingredients.

Woolnough also explained that this year, the senior class is learning different ways to modify and utilize heat while cooking. “We will practice this again when we use hibachi grills later in the semester.” She hopes to spend more time on this unit, further developing the students’ skills in building and managing cooking fires.

The instructors have also engaged in their own learning, experimenting with safely heating rocks to boil water which is a traditional method used for years by Indigenous peoples.

This activity exemplifies PVSS’s commitment to Reconciliation, bringing the District’s Value of Reconciliation to life by fostering collaboration and honouring Indigenous ways of knowing and doing.

Check out the delicious creations from the cooking classes on Instagram @pvfoodstudies.