Manchester School kicks off health program
WINDHAM
1/15/2010

By Emily Parkhurst

Fourth and fifth grade students at Manchester Elementary School in Windham experienced some new tastes, including star fruit and mango on Wednesday morning during the Let's Go! program kick-off event in the school cafeteria and in the students' classrooms. The program, aided by a $900 grant from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, aims to teach children better eating habits and increase levels of activity with its simple message of 5210: five fruits and vegetables each day, two fewer hours of television per day, one hour of physical activity each day and zero sugary drinks. The program even includes a song to help children remember the ''rules,'' using the melody from If you're happy and you know it to reinforce the message.

''I think it's going really well,'' said Stephanie Joyce, one of the program organizers and the health coordinator for the district.

The school pulled all the students from grades four and five into the cafeteria Wednesday morning for a kick-off assembly. Students from the high school, dressed as various fruits, danced around the stage during the presentation. A shy sweet pea and a quiet carrot, both from the Manchester School, looked on.

The Let's Go! grant, which Joyce said the school will use partially to purchase 10 sets of snowshoes for students to use, is part of a region-wide effort to get students up and moving and combat the 17.9 percent of Maine children who are overweight. Joyce said she hopes to fundraise enough money to purchase another 10 sets of snowshoes, so entire classes can go outside and explore during the winter.

In addition to the Let's Go! kickoff, representatives from Wal-Mart in Windham presented a $1,000 check to the school to cover expenses for a new garden that the school is planning for the spring. PROP, the People's Regional Opportunity Program, based in Portland, also donated $500 to the school for a garden.

''We're going to be looking for donated supplies and some help,'' said Pam Lanz, who is heading up the garden project for the school.