SHADE Foundation of America

To eradicate melanoma through the education of children and the community in the prevention and detection of skin cancer and the promotion of sun safety.

SHADE's close partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency has propelled the SunWise with SHADE National Poster Contest to measurable success. SunWise is a free program for grades K-8 that consists of a toolkit containing cross curricular activities that allow teachers to integrate sun safety into their traditional teaching. This creates simultaneous opportunities for teachers and students to absorb vital, preventative knowledge of sun safety without distracting from their required subjects. SHADE reinforces the message conveyed in SunWise by welcoming schools to participate in a nationwide poster contest. After being taught the 8 SunWise messages, students may draw and submit an original poster demonstrating their knowledge of the sun safe habits that they have acquired and retained. Posters are judged on a state and national level. Children are encouraged to go online to vote for their favorite poster, which again puts the sun safety messages in front of them. The poster deemed to possess the clearest, most creative conveyance of understanding of the sun safety messages is the national winner.