School Educational Programs

Education.  It’s what we do.

Every day in the United States there are almost 5,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed.  That’s three new cases per minute (American Cancer Society, 2020).  Between 30-50% of those diagnoses are preventable due to modifiable risk factors including tobacco, alcohol, diet and exercise, environmental risk factors (radiation, chemicals), and infections.

Tobacco still remains the number one cause of cancer.  Whether it’s smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, using hookah, or smoking cigars – there is no safe way to use tobacco.  However, in recent years, another risk factor has been closing in on tobacco: obesity.  Fewer than half of Americans are aware that body weight affects people’s risk of getting cancer even though 18%  of all cancers diagnosed in the United States are related to body fatness, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, and/or poor nutrition (American Cancer Society, 2020).

Beat Cancer Family Foundation’s mission is to “Inspire people in our community to lead cancer-free healthy lifestyles.” This is achieved by providing our P.A.C.E. (Prevention and Cancer Education) presentations to local schools, businesses, and community groups.  Since September 2001 the Beat Cancer Family Foundation has presented educational programs to over 127,521 students in Northeast & Central Wisconsin. In 2019 we provided 519 presentations to 72 schools in Northeastern & Central  Wisconsin, reaching 17,024 students.  During distance learning in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19, we still reached over 900 students with our presentations!

Our educational programs target 13-18 year olds and provide detailed and engaging explanations of what cancer is and how it develops in our bodies, detection and treatment, specific risk factors, and what choices students can make to reduce their individual risk for developing this disease. Students receive information they need to lead lives built on healthy choices and habits that will significantly reduce their risk of dying from cancer.

Here’s how one local teacher feels about our educational programs:

“The Beat Cancer Family Foundation’s presentation to my health class is always so informative and interactive for the students.  The topic of cancer is so often misunderstood, especially for teenagers.  This presentation give students the opportunity to ask questions and learn about cancer in terms they can understand.  I highly recommend this presentation!”
 – Carrie Hassemer, Reedsville High School Health Teacher

Presentations are at no charge to the school and can accommodate any time frame.

We currently have three P.A.C.E. units available for presentations:  

• Cancer and Healthy Living
• Nutrition for Cancer Prevention
• VAPE Education

Would you like BCFF to present at your school? Click here for more detailed information on our presentations.   Contact us for more information!

Want to know what schools we have presented in?  Click here for our current list of schools.

Are you a teacher that we’ve given access to our Teachers Only resource page?  Click here!