The St. Jude Cancer Education for Children Program (“Cure4Kids for Kids”) aims to become the leading source of cancer education for students in the Kindergarten – Twelfth grades. This multi-lingual program helps school children, their parents, and teachers understand the basic science and treatment of cancer. Through the use of age-appropriate content, the program focuses on three main objectives: 1) educating students, parents, teachers, and communities about cancer and dispelling common misconceptions, 2) promoting healthy lifestyle choices in children that can help reduce the risk of developing cancer as an adult, and 3) increasing interest in science and scientific careers.

All the educational materials were developed by a multidisciplinary team composed of St. Jude faculty and staff with the collaboration of national experts. The program contains three educational modules: cells (presented as the basic unit of life), cancer (presented as a disease of unhealthy cells), and healthy living (presented with practices for cancer risk reduction: tobacco control, safe sun exposure, proper nutrition, and appropriate physical activity). Each module contains a teacher’s guide, children’s book, presentation by a St. Jude expert, and hands-on activities related to the topic presented (i.e. lab exercise, empathy activity, etc.).

The new Cure4Kids for Kids website (www.Cure4Kids.org/Kids) makes the St. Jude Cancer Education for Children Program available to children across the country and the world. The website contains the cancer education material for elementary-aged students, teachers, and parents. Cartoon characters serve as tour guides throughout the narrated books, interactive games, glossary, and question and answer sections of the site. A designated area for teachers enables educators to download and print the program materials free of charge. A separate section is available for parents to reference material related to the topics presented in the children’s section so that they can have a source of information to address their child should he or she have questions at home. Currently, all materials are available in English and translation to other languages has begun.

A formal evaluation of the program at the 4th grade level began in the 2010-2011 school year. Future plans include the expansion of content for elementary, middle, and high schools and additional development of the website. For more information, contact the Cancer Educational Outreach Coordinator at Kids@Cure4Kids.org

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