May 18, 2020
Resources Available For Grades K – 12
New Online Learning Videos Created for Grades 3 - 5 and 6 - 8
The Children’s Melanoma Prevention Foundation (CMPF) is launching an online expansion of its national SunAWARE For Life educational programming for students and teachers to support at-home learning during the current school closure. The additional programming now includes 30-minute virtual classroom videos for Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-8, made possible by a grant from the South Shore Community Partners in Prevention (CHNA23).
In addition to the videos, online resources include a post test, children’s books with lesson plans, and assorted collateral materials that support CMPF’s national sun safety curriculum. The videos also include a Sun Safety Rap song written and performed by Natasha Dealecio and David Posso. All materials are available for free download.
CMPF is the only national foundation exclusively focused on preventing skin cancer by educating children and the people who care for them. The organization developed its SunAWARE school program to provide students with a better understanding of UV intensity and skin sensitivity, as well as proper sun protection and skin cancer recognition. Its goal is to prevent skin cancer, one child at a time, through education and advocacy. Over the last 17 years, CMPF has educated more than 1 million children in schools and the community.
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, trained Foundation staff provided free, in-person sun safety awareness presentations at local schools and day cares, parks, tourist sites, sailing and recreation centers, and at professional conventions and symposia.
Founder Maryellen Maguire-Eisen, a Hingham resident, said, “Our staff had more than 70 in-person school and community events scheduled on our spring and summer calendar when the stay at-home advisory was enacted.”
She said, with the online resources, “Teachers can easily add our educational materials to Google Classroom and utilize the curriculum in a variety of ways. Students have the flexibility to view the videos independently, or teachers can download resource materials and use them to augment their lesson plans and create additional student assignments.”
CMPF initially applied for the CHNA23 grant last fall when requests for in-person school visits had begun to surpass what its staff could accommodate. Funding was provided to produce online lessons for implementation in the Plymouth public schools.
Since the first of the year, the Foundation has worked with a team of educational advisors and PACTV in Plymouth to develop the video content and animated graphics for the online lessons.
In March, schools were unexpectedly closed and remote learning became the norm. The online SunAWARE programming has allowed the Foundation to redirect its focus and fill the at-home learning gap as teachers began searching for new web-based educational material for their students.
Topics include age-appropriate biology and life science information on: understanding the factors that affect skin sensitivity and skin types; understanding factors that affect ultraviolet radiation, highlighting the concepts of season, time of day, altitude, reflection, ozone layer, and weather, as well as high and low tech UV tools including “the shadow rule.” The foundation stresses five easy SunAWARE action steps to promote sun safety, which are outlined in the fun and informative rap song.
CMPF will continue to work with the Plymouth school system while simultaneously reaching out to offer the new online learning resources to the multitude of schools and educators they’ve previously partnered with throughout the South Shore, North Shore and Greater Boston.
Maguire-Eisen said, “We educate children about sun protection and skin cancer prevention because we believe an ounce of prevention (or sunscreen) is truly worth a pound of cure. With skin cancer rates skyrocketing and one person dying every 45 minutes from the disease, it is imperative that we protect our children from unnecessary risks. Early prevention is essential for a happy, healthy and productive life."