SunWise Contests, Activities, and Updates - Spring 2011

Dear SunWise Educators,

With spring right around the corner, children and families will start spending more time outdoors.  The sun is the primary source of excessive ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is the cause of most skin cancers. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S., and melanoma, the most dangerous form, is the second most-common cancer for adolescents and young adults ages 15-29. The good news is: skin cancer is also easy to prevent, and we have excellent and free resources we're excited to share with you. To increase awareness of the importance of sun safety, we invite you to encourage students and educators in your school to take advantage of the many fun and educational resources, social media tools, contests, and activities offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SunWise Program.

SunWise is a national environmental and health education program that teaches children and their caregivers how to be safe in the sun through the use of classroom-, school-, and community-based components. Over 26,800 schools and 4,700 community partners have joined the program since its launch in May 2000. This spring, we are especially excited about the wealth of activities and resources available from SunWise and SunWise partners.

Students in grades K-8 are eligible to enter the contest, which is a joint effort by the SHADE Foundation of America, WeatherBug Schools and EPA to teach children ways to protect their skin and eyes from too much sun exposure. Contest entries are due by April 1, 2011 for two age categories: kindergarten through third grade, and fourth through eighth grade. Winning posters will receive state and national prizes, with the overall national winner receiving a family trip to Disney World and a WeatherBug Tracking Station for his/her school with lifetime access to WeatherBug Achieve.

Students in both categories should submit hand-drawn posters on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. Entries should be original, creative, show ways to prevent skin cancer and raise sun safety awareness and be attached to an official entry form found at www.shadefoundation.org. Once the state-winning posters are announced, the public will choose the national winner by voting for their favorite poster online in late April and early May.

From March 1st-31st, SchoolTube (http://www2.schooltube.com/Contests/DontFryDayVideoContest.aspx) will host the Don't Fry Day Video Contest for students in grades K-12. Students are invited to create a 30-90 second video showing fellow students why sun damage and skin cancer are a big deal and the easy things kids can do to stay healthy. In April, finalist entries will be posted on SchoolTube, and members of the public will be able to view the videos and vote for their favorites. Prizes of up to $500 will be awarded to students and their schools.

To help reduce the rising rates of skin cancer, the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention (Council) has designated the Friday before Memorial Day Don't Fry Day (DFD). The Council's goal is to encourage sun safety awareness by reminding everyone to protect their skin while enjoying the outdoors, on Don't Fry Day and every day. This year will mark the 3rd annual DFD, and we invite educators to take the DFD Pledge by teaching about sun safety in their spring and summer activities.  The Council is also encouraging educators to "spring into DFD" by beginning to include lessons about sun safety during the first week of spring, which begins March 20.

Participating educators receive a Don't Fry Day poster and a set of sun safety stickers. In addition, school classrooms are entered into a drawing for one SunWise Classroom Prize Pack-a classroom set of UV-sensitive SunWise beads, a real-time UV monitor, and other sun safety resources. The drawing for the prize pack takes place on Don't Fry Day. Educators can sign up for the pledge at www.epa.gov/sunwise/dfdpledge.html. Coloring sheets are also available on the website.

Our award-winning online sun safety certification program (http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/tutorial.html) was created especially for camp counselors, coaches, scout troop leaders, lifeguards, and others who work with youth outdoors. The interactive training provides users with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to instill life-long sun-safe behaviors in the youth in their care.

We invite the public to check the UV Index, which predicts UV intensity levels on a scale of 1 (low) to 11+ (high).  Educators and children can check the UV Index for a city or ZIP code at www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html. In addition, a UV Index "app" is available for download to smartphones, to add as a widget/gadget to webpages, and more.

We're also planning to launch a SunWise Facebook page in March or early April 2011. We invite you to join the conversation on sun safety, test your sun safety knowledge, become a "fan" of SunWise, and stay up to date on news and events related to sun-safe behaviors.

State-specific skin cancer fact sheets:
EPA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have written fact sheets with state-specific information about skin cancer incidence and prevention. Please visit www.epa.gov/sunwise/statefacts.html to find PDF versions of the fact sheets. If your state is not listed, please check back later-we will make additional fact sheets available as they are completed.

We hope you join us in helping more children learn about the importance of sun protection by spreading the word about the many fun and exciting SunWise activities, resources, and events happening this spring. For more information on any of the above resources, please contact us at sunwise@epa.gov. In addition, we invite you to visit www.epa.gov/sunwise, where you can find free resources for educators on sun safety, including the award-winning SunWise Tool Kit containing activities for 5-13 year old children.

Sincerely,
Rob Landolfi
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency