Sweetened was opened as an entrepreneurship program for students in February Jason Zachary, ADSB culinary education lead, Jennifer Barbeau, White Pines Collegiate principal, Keegan Kniahwicki, White Pines student, Carolyn McKay, chocolatier, Isabel Nentwig, White Pines student, Emma Cote, White Pines student, Anthony Hunt, White Pines student and Amy See, White Pines staff member hold chocolate produced by Sweetened, the ADSB’s own chocolate producing enterprise based at White Pines Collegiate, April 22, 2025. 1 / 1 Jason Zachary, ADSB culinary education lead, Jennifer Barbeau, White Pines Collegiate principal, Keegan Kniahwicki, White Pines student, Carolyn McKay, chocolatier, Isabel Nentwig, White Pines student, Emma Cote, White Pines student, Anthony Hunt, White Pines student and Amy See, White Pines staff member hold chocolate produced by Sweetened, the ADSB’s own chocolate producing enterprise based at White Pines Collegiate, April 22, 2025. Advertisement Algoma District School Board high school students are now making their own chocolate in an entrepreneurship program - known as Sweetened - at White Pines Collegiate. Guided by a culinary arts teacher and chocolatiers employed by the school board, students produce chocolate at White Pines, package it and sell it at Soo Market and other locations. Money raised from Sweetened chocolate sales goes to ADSB breakfast programs across the Sault and Algoma District. “We use high-end equipment, including a large Italian tempering machine, to ensure the highest quality in our handcrafted chocolates,” said Jason Zachary, Algoma District School Board culinary education lead. Zachary provided SooToday with a breakdown of the chocolate-making process and the time it takes from start to finish: 1. Tempering the Chocolate (30–45 minutes) We start by melting and tempering our couverture chocolate using our Italian tempering machine. This step is crucial—it aligns the cocoa butter crystals to give the final product its smooth texture and signature snap. Depending on the batch size, this can take about 30 to 45 minutes. 2. Molding and Filling (30 minutes) Once tempered, the chocolate is poured into custom molds. If we’re making filled chocolates, we allow the outer shell to set briefly, then pipe in the filling, and finally seal the mold with another layer of chocolate. 3. Chilling and Setting (20–30 minutes) The molded chocolates are then placed in a cooling unit to chill and set. This ensures a quick release from the molds and helps the chocolate maintain its structure. 4. Unmolding and Packaging (20–40 minutes) After the chocolate sets, we carefully remove them from the molds and inspect each piece. They’re then hand-packaged with care. Depending on the volume, this process takes around 20 to 40 minutes. Total Estimated Time: One hour and 40 minutes to two and a half hours per batch (depending on the size and complexity of the chocolate being made) Chocolate lovers are advised that all Sweetened chocolates may contain traces of nuts. Sweetened chocolate is also available through the Sweetened website. Customers place their orders which are available for curbside pickup at White Pines. “We've just had a soft launch on the website and we're making sure we're out in the community at Soo Market every Saturday. We go to craft shows for Mother's Day, Easter and Christmas,” Zachary said. Sweetened gets its ingredients from suppliers in Ontario that are importing from Belgium. “It's the highest quality chocolate that you could work with,” Zachary said. Chocolate-making at Sweetened is not a regular high school course but rather an entrepreneurship program that includes students with special needs. “They usually have autism or a mild intellectual disability but they are employable, so our goal is to teach them transferable skills and prepare them for a job after high school. This is a great experience for them,” said Jennifer Barbeau, White Pines principal. Students from other ADSB high schools are welcome in the Sweetened program. Sweetened was originally known as Sweet Change, located at 3 Queen St. E. and operated by the Centre for Social Justice and Good Works. The Centre launched Sweet Change as a five-year program beginning in 2019 with funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) and FedNor. Sweet Change offered job skills and training for teens in need of help. When that five-year period came to an end in 2024, the decision was made to transfer the chocolate-making equipment to the ADSB and the Centre for Social Justice and Good Works was dissolved. “I think the icing on the cake for me is that the school board is following through with helping children, getting students involved in an entrepreneurship program. It's a nice way to continue and enhance what Sweet Change and the Centre was doing with respect to helping kids,” said John Febbraro, former Centre for Social Justice and Good Works board chair.