Warsaw, Wawasee Add ‘Outrun The Sun’ Curriculum
July 29, 2019 at 11:18 p.m.
By Amanda Bridgman-
The program, called Outrun The Sun, is approved by the Indiana Department of Education and was introduced to the schools by Livewell Kosciusko Cancer Consortium Program Director Kathy Gill.
Gill, a melanoma and four-time cancer survivor herself, was approached by Livewell Kosciusko CEO Lisa Harman to manage a cancer education outreach program here. Gill had started a cancer survivor support group at the YMCA.
Funding for the county's cancer consortium came in less than a year ago, Gill said. Since then, she's been beating the streets trying to educate everyone about the dangers of skin cancer and how it can be prevented.
Gill set up a tent at area beaches during the last "heat wave" and passed out coloring pages, informational cards and color-changing bracelets. The bracelets are meant to indicate when a person has been in the sun too long by changing from clear to blue.
"Then it's time to get in the shade and reapply sunscreen," she said.
She and Harman approached Warsaw and Wawasee schools last spring semester and asked if they'd be interested in doing a pilot program with the state-approved curriculum.
The schools agreed, and the lessons are much more than handing out a tube of sunscreen. Yes, it promotes the basics of wearing sunscreen, wearing a hat, wearing a shirt with sleeves, wearing sunglasses and staying in the shade, but it also educates youngsters about the damage UV rays can cause to their skin, and how it can be prevented, while still having fun outdoors.
Students learn about the dangers of a sunburn. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, children who get sunburns at an early age have an increased risk for developing skin cancer and melanoma later in life, and having had more than five sunburns will double that.
Students learn measurements – one ounce of sunscreen is recommended every time sunscreen needs applied (which is every two hours). They also learn something most adults don't realize, and that is that sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going outside so it has time to sink into your skin. Rubbing sunscreen when you get to the beach really isn't going to do the job you think it will. The sunscreen also needs to be at least 30 SPF.
The curriculum teaches this through fun activities, even songs, like this one to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star": I need sunscreen every day, Before I go out outside to play! Put it on my smiling face, Ears and neck, yes- that's the place. I need sunscreen every day, Before I go outside to play.
Gill and Harman hope to get more schools on board this coming school year. Both are pleased with the pilot program at Warsaw and Wawasee.
"Cancer had a big input on my life," Gill said. "We knew there was no UV education taking place in the schools, so we're glad those schools adopted it."
They hope that in 10 years, all of the county's schools will have adopted UV education curriculum for every grade level.
For more information, visit www.livewellkosciusko.org, and see what other programs fall under the Livewell umbrella.
The program, called Outrun The Sun, is approved by the Indiana Department of Education and was introduced to the schools by Livewell Kosciusko Cancer Consortium Program Director Kathy Gill.
Gill, a melanoma and four-time cancer survivor herself, was approached by Livewell Kosciusko CEO Lisa Harman to manage a cancer education outreach program here. Gill had started a cancer survivor support group at the YMCA.
Funding for the county's cancer consortium came in less than a year ago, Gill said. Since then, she's been beating the streets trying to educate everyone about the dangers of skin cancer and how it can be prevented.
Gill set up a tent at area beaches during the last "heat wave" and passed out coloring pages, informational cards and color-changing bracelets. The bracelets are meant to indicate when a person has been in the sun too long by changing from clear to blue.
"Then it's time to get in the shade and reapply sunscreen," she said.
She and Harman approached Warsaw and Wawasee schools last spring semester and asked if they'd be interested in doing a pilot program with the state-approved curriculum.
The schools agreed, and the lessons are much more than handing out a tube of sunscreen. Yes, it promotes the basics of wearing sunscreen, wearing a hat, wearing a shirt with sleeves, wearing sunglasses and staying in the shade, but it also educates youngsters about the damage UV rays can cause to their skin, and how it can be prevented, while still having fun outdoors.
Students learn about the dangers of a sunburn. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, children who get sunburns at an early age have an increased risk for developing skin cancer and melanoma later in life, and having had more than five sunburns will double that.
Students learn measurements – one ounce of sunscreen is recommended every time sunscreen needs applied (which is every two hours). They also learn something most adults don't realize, and that is that sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going outside so it has time to sink into your skin. Rubbing sunscreen when you get to the beach really isn't going to do the job you think it will. The sunscreen also needs to be at least 30 SPF.
The curriculum teaches this through fun activities, even songs, like this one to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star": I need sunscreen every day, Before I go out outside to play! Put it on my smiling face, Ears and neck, yes- that's the place. I need sunscreen every day, Before I go outside to play.
Gill and Harman hope to get more schools on board this coming school year. Both are pleased with the pilot program at Warsaw and Wawasee.
"Cancer had a big input on my life," Gill said. "We knew there was no UV education taking place in the schools, so we're glad those schools adopted it."
They hope that in 10 years, all of the county's schools will have adopted UV education curriculum for every grade level.
For more information, visit www.livewellkosciusko.org, and see what other programs fall under the Livewell umbrella.
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