News

Philadelphia schools deploy 100 digital signs to promote healthy living

January 20, 2012

Horizon Software International, a provider of K-12 food service technology, today announced the successful implementation of 100 digital signs throughout the School District of Philadelphia's K-12 school cafeterias.

The SourceBoard solution will allow schools within the district to better communicate with students and faculty through digital signs placed in front of meal lines to promote healthy food choices, the company said.

Horizon partnered with Touchtown Inc. to offer the digital signage that allows schools to broadcast nutritional information, menus, organization news, activity announcements, videos and more to HDTVs strategically placed throughout their facilities. SourceBoards in the School District of Philadelphia engage students not only in understanding the nutritional values of the foods they are eating, but also in helping them make more informed decisions on their food choices, the companies said.

"The School District of Philadelphia's application of SourceBoard, to promote 'Get Healthy Philly' that promotes a healthy, active and smoke-free environment, shows the District is on the cutting edge by using technology to communicate with their students, parents and faculty," said Horizon President Randy Eckels in the announcement.

"The smooth implementation of the SourceBoards into the 85 schools shows that the product is easy to execute. The support received throughout the entire process has made this project a huge success in our district, and the value of the solution aligns with our continued focus on nutrition education for our students," said Wayne Garsela, SVP of food service at the School District of Philadelphia. "We think it's a step in the right direction for helping our students understand the importance of staying healthy by maintaining a balanced diet and participating in physical activity."

The School District of Philadelphia implementation is the biggest installation for Horizon Software and Touchtown. "The successful implementation of SourceBoards throughout the School District of Philadelphia is a major milestone for the partnership between Horizon Software and Touchtown," said Jeff Pepper, president and CEO of Touchtown Inc. "We look forward to many more deals like this, to show schools that educating students on nutrition and physical activity during meals will help them make better lifelong choices."

Horizon SourceBoards integrate with the Horizon POS system, which allows SourceBoard to pull menu information directly from the POS system. The SourceBoard content manager comes pre-loaded with nutrition education content that the district can provide via digital signage to students and faculty.

Read more about digital signage in schools.