MANHATTAN, Kan. – Set the rivalry aside. During its regular meeting today, the Kansas Board of Regents learned more about a cooperative project involving Kansas State University; K-State Research and Extension; the University of Kansas; and the University of Kansas Medical Center.

The educational effort – a mobile classroom that helps 6th, 7th and 8th graders learn more about choosing a healthy lifestyle – was honored by the Heartland Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS) at the Regents’ meeting on the Kansas State University campus.

The mobile classroom, which is housed in a sleek, high-tech truck, is filled with interactive teaching tools that focus on nutrition, physical activity and health; skin cancer prevention; and the use of tobacco. The easy-to-understand lessons are designed to help young people who are making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives, said Deanna Munson, K-State Research and Extension specialist who has been heavily involved in lesson planning for the project.

The lessons are designed for students, but almost everyone who tours the high-tech classroom learns something, Munson said.

The mobile teaching tool was made possible by an initial grant from the Kansas division of the ACS, now called the Heartland Division that also includes Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Although originally planned to serve only Kansas, the high-tech classroom now serves all four states. Since its introduction four years ago, the learning center has served more than 40,000 students in nearly 40 school districts. Its odometer attests to its mobility: the truck-turned-classroom has logged more than 100,000 miles.

"The mobility of the classroom is key – it allows us to deliver the educational message to the people who need it most," said Dr. H. William Barkman, Director of the Center for Environmental & Occupational Health at the KU Medical Center, who attended the recognition ceremony.

In making the presentation at the Regents’ meeting, Paul C. Murphy, Chief Operating Officer of the Heartland Division of the Cancer Society, asked the Regents and an audience that filled a large meeting room: "How many of you have not been touched by cancer?"

As only a few hands raised, Murphy stressed the importance of combined efforts: "We need research, legislation, service and education to make success significant."

The ACS spokesperson honored the two schools’ educational efforts by presenting plaques to
K-State President Jon Wefald and KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway.

Murphy said that his goal is to reduce the number of cancer deaths in the four-state area by 100,000 in less than 10 years. His vision and sense of purpose, which he said evolved after his own bout with cancer, is shared by others involved in the project. For example, Jan Schwarz, Heartland Division, ACS Director of Prevention and Cancer Control Department, who also made the trip to the K-State campus to participate in the recognition ceremony, cited the continuing interest of collaborators.

"Growth in the project makes it possible for staff members at participating schools to receive training. Two skilled health promotion educators also have been hired to travel with the mobile classroom and facilitate the interactive learning sessions," she said.

"The importance of the message – and the realization that we are making a difference – helps us keep building on an idea that is working well," said Schwarz, who likes to imagine a time when the concept – and Kansas’ good example – will be used nationwide.

Even the designer of the high-tech truck-turned-classroom who attended the recognition ceremony remains enthusiastic. While some requests – like a bump-out theater – prompted other engineers to say "no," Tom Anderson, an engineer who is a former director of facilities at the University of Kansas, worked quickly and efficiently to resolve problems.

For example, to keep computers and other high-tech teaching tools from jarring on road trips, Anderson designed individual suspension systems like those in luxury cars for each wheel of the truck. It may look like a truck, he said, but underneath, it looks more like a BMW.