Mission: to teach children and their caretakers safe and proven methods of sun protection and skin cancer prevention. Our aim is to reduce the incidence and impact of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, on families and society. Our goal is to make all children SunAWARE.
Boston Harbor Island's SunAWARE Project
Building upon our partnership with US SAILING we expanded our local efforts to include a partnership with the Department of Conservation and 
Recreation (DCR), Boston Harbor Now, and the National Park Service. The Boston Harbor Island’s SunAWARE Project includes training of permanent and seasonal staff, and six on-site educational programs for visitors that included the distribution of a program bookmark and Neutrogena sunscreen. The staff evaluations included comments suggesting that they were applying more sunscreen than they had previously, reapplying sunscreen more frequently, and now consider it part of their “Personal Protective Equipment.”
In addition to the adult program, we trained Discovery Camp Administrators and provided resources, free-of-charge, for their counselors to use with the hundreds of Summer campers that visit the Islands.
Perkins School for the Blind partnered with us by providing two Summer Interns who provided information and sunscreen to visitors on Spectacle Island daily for six weeks. Together, we reached thousands of staff, campers, and visitors to the Boston Harbor Islands. We hope that this will be an annual joint educational venture.
SunAWARE Curriculum (K-12) Our SunAWARE school curriculum is based on these five action steps; Avoid unprotected UV exposure and never indoor tan, Wear sun protection clothing, 
Apply adequate amounts of SPF 30+ sunscree, Routinely examine your skin for changes, and Educate others. In my experience, SunAWARE is the only acronym that incorporates both sun protection and skin cancer detection components. In 2011, we aligned our SunAWARE curriculum with the Massachuestts educational frameworks and standards. There are four discrete academic levels: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The lesson plans, evaluation tools, and additional resources, including free SunAWARE children's books are now available online at www.melanomaprevention.org. We are gratified that the Dermatology Nurses' Association and Montana's Division of Cancer Prevention have endorsed our curriculum to implement in their communities. We prevent skin cancer one child at a time by providing our curriculum and resources to anyone and everyone worldwide. There is no permission, no charge, no subscription, no password needed.
The SunAWARE curriculum is easily replicated and adapted to almost any educational setting anywhere. The four objectives are to provide children with a better understanding of the factors that affect ultraviolet radiation and skin sensitivity, as well as proper sun protection, and skin cancer recognition. Each lesson includes clear goals and objectives, lesson sequence, supporting materials, special needs adaptations, extensions, co-curricular links, teacher resources, and evaluation materials. Additional resources include a UV bracelet craft kits and UV bracelets for purchase. Skin analyzers can be shipped to your community for use in programs. For more information contact the foundation via email or phone.
