2005 Award Winners

Stephanie Smith -
Kyrene de la Colina Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ

Stephanie Smith and Kyrene de la Colina have spread the SunWise message in numerous ways. They have raised funds for two shade structures, created "Hats on Heads," where children keep track of how many students are wearing hats outdoors throughout the year, and they were awarded the state’s first sun safety grant by the Arizona Commission on the Arts to provide a playwright to assist children in writing plays about sun safety.

http://www.kyrene.org/schools/colina

Carlos Olivo -
Holy Cross Lutheran School, Dallas, TX

Carlos Olivo and Holy Cross Lutheran School have developed a SunWise school policy, involving the entire school and local health advisors. It teaches children to apply sunscreen properly and encourages them to wear hats, sunglasses, and protective clothing. The school has constructed one shade structure and started work on a second one.

http://www.hcdallas.org/school

Teryl H. Brzeski and
Sea Gate Elementary, Naples, FL

Teryl Brzeski and Sea Gate Elementary School have been working together for the past six years. In that time, Ms. Brzeski has helped convince the School Board in Collier County to devote 2.1 million dollars for shade structures to cover all of its 22 elementary school playgrounds—the first project of this kind in the country. She also has worked to provide 1200 hats and 600 pairs of sunglasses for students.

http://www.collier.k12.fl.us/sge

Grace Hatmaker -
Clovis High School, Clovis, CA

Ms. Hatmaker has implemented the SunWise program in many innovative ways. She has created games using the UV Frisbee to teach about sun safety, helped to erect shade structures on the school grounds, and placed jugs of sunscreen in the school locker rooms.

http://www.clovisusd.k12.ca.us/chs

Natalie Gripper -
Lighthouse Christian Academy, Brandon, FL

Ms. Gripper has spread the SunWise message to her school by designing activities for each grade level and helping to enforce the school sun safety policy by encouraging the use of sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, and shade when outside.

Dr. Lisa Ventry Milenkovic -
Eagle Point Elementary, Weston, FL

Dr. Milenkovic takes a real-world approach to spreading the SunWise message. She created the "Science in the Sun" workshop to teach 5th graders about sun safety and obtained UV sensor cards for the student use. Her efforts were featured in the PTO newsletter.

http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/eaglepointelem

Jan Mattingly -
McWane Center, Birmingham, AL

Jan Mattingly and the McWane Center is one of the many informal learning centers across the nation that is teaming up with SunWise. They have hosted teacher and museum training workshops and created family event days so the entire community can learn about sun safety.

http://www.mcwane.org

Helen Rebull -
The Congressional Schools of Virginia, Falls Church, VA

Ms. Rebull was one of the first teachers in the country to adopt the SunWise Program in 1999. Her classes have been active participants in the UV reporting aspect of the program.

http://www.congressionalschools.org

Robin Lawrence-Broesch - Evansville Cancer Center, Evansville, IN

Robin Lawrence-Broesch has done a remarkable job of spreading the SunWise message to her community. She has conducted more the fifty presentations reaching over 10,000 students. She organized a "Pool Patrol" program, which distributed free sunscreen and demonstrated the importance of sun safety using a UV Frisbee. In addition, she arranged free skin cancer screenings. Her sun safety work was featured in local media.

http://www.evansvillecancercenter.com