Poplar Bluff junior high students are learning cancer awareness while having some spring fun thanks to a unique organization.
Early Recognition is Critical (ERIC) is a non-profit that combines the fun of ultimate frisbee and valuable lessons in recognizing cancer, in order to teach young people awareness.
Organizer Hank Rainbolt says the reason the sport and the awareness program go hand-in-hand is because ultimate frisbee teachers young people to speak up -- something they must do quickly if they detect signs or symptoms.
"Ultimate frisbee, even at the world championship level, is a self-sufficient sport. There are no referees. That means the players have to be their own referees. They need to speak up to know the rules," Rainbolt said.
"Just like we teach kids to speak up during the sport of Ultimate, they have to speak up for their own health," he said.
ERIC organizers hosted awareness classes at the junior high girls on one day and boys on another.
"The first 10 minutes of class, we sit everyone down and go over some cancer symptom awareness. We talk about lumps, we talk about abnormal bleeding. Skin cancer - we talk about the moles, anything unusual. If you are having frequent vomiting and night sweats," Rainbolt said.
Following presentations on early cancer recognition, students learn how to play ultimate frisbee. The sport features teams of players trying to pass a disc down field to cross the opponents goal line and is growing in popularity worldwide.
"We teach them how to catch, how to throw. We teach them how to run and catch the disc in motion. Now they know the game, they can speak up for themselves and call the rules we taught them," Rainbolt said.
The message seemingly resonated with the students. Seventh-grader Kamden Whitaker said he learned a lot about cancer awareness and had a lot of fun. "We learned how and where you can locate the cancer in your body and how we can stop it and keep it from affecting us. It helps you learn, you pay more attention. It's easier to learn and you have more fun," he said.
According to ERIC, the organization's purpose is to inform everyone about the growing epidemic that is cancer. The non-profit is the official charity of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), the largest professional ultimate league in the world with more then 26 franchises across North America.
More information is available on the web at earlyrecognitioniscritical.org