SCARBOROUGH, Maine — The Guiding Stars nutrition navigation system has launched in the Windham Raymond School District in Maine.
Guiding Stars has been implemented at Windham High School and will extend to the district’s two middle schools sometime during the 2010-2011 school year, and to its three primary schools in 2011-2012.
This system allows students to quickly identify and choose foods that offer the most nutrition for the calories.
Guiding Stars rates prepared meals, snacks, salad bar and grab-and-go items with zero to three stars based on its nutritional value. One star means good nutritional value; two stars, better nutritional value; and three stars, the best nutritional value.
“Guiding Stars will not only make it easier to identify healthy options, but will make nutritious choices simple, practical and fun,” Jim McBride, director of information and systems at Guiding Stars Licensing Co., said in a statement.
Windham makes wellness a priority by employing a School Health Coordinator, maintaining an active Wellness Team, as well as supporting a variety of health and wellness endeavors both inside and outside of the classroom that have been initiated by district staff.
“There is a link between nutrition and learning, and Guiding Stars was a natural fit for our schools in order to make it easier for our students and staff to make healthy-eating a part of their lifestyle,” Stephanie Joyce, Windham’s health coordinator of Windham Raymond School District, said in a statement.
Windham funded the program with a near $1 million federal grant, which will also be used to create various Centers of Wellness throughout district schools.
The Windham launch is one of a growing number of Guiding Stars licensing deals. Along with being in more than 1,500 supermarkets throughout the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Florida, Guiding Stars is also in place at the Topsham, Maine School District, well as Bates College in Lewiston, Maine; and the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.
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