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InnerLink, which uses a collaborative approach to help schools reverse the current health crisis in their communities, was contracted by Highmark Foundation to develop Health eTools for Schools and provides technical support to schools who adopt the program. Recently honored with the 2007 Silver World Wide Web Health Award for the best online health information, this innovative solution includes online tools that help school nurses, health and physical educators, food service professionals, and administrators address the factors that can lead to childhood obesity in a coordinated and systemic way. For more information on the award, visit http://www.healthawards.com/wwwha/fw2007winners/hp_portal.htm.

The program allows schools to evaluate themselves against best practices, and enables them to prioritize and implement a plan through policy, practice, and curriculum. The Highmark Foundation funding helps reduce limitations schools face in acquiring resources, like Health eTools for Schools, to implement programs to help students make healthy choices.

"We are pleased by the vote of confidence that this contract extension implies. Since its launch in September 2006, Health eTools has been rapidly embraced across Pennsylvania and is presently helping more than 400,000 students in this region learn how to adopt healthy lifestyles for a lifetime," said Martha L. Harris, vice president of Coordinated School Health Solutions at InnerLink. "As individual students learn to become health literate, they inform their parents on ways to stay healthy, generating communities of wellness."

"I have been very impressed with the capabilities of Health eTools for Schools to help my district implement the goals and objectives of our wellness policy," said G
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