History of SunSmart America™

In 1998, the Foundation bought the rights to the Australian SunSmart program and adapted it to educational standards in the United States. The curriculum, called SunSmart America™ consisted of age-appropriate lessons for grades K-12 and is widely used in the Palm Beach County School District and in School Districts across South Florida.

In 2003, the Foundation was awarded a grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida to begin a sun safety program in the Monroe County School District, educating the residents of the Florida Keys. In 2004, the Foundation in collaboration with the University of Miami, received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for $1.5 million to study the effectiveness of the Foundation’s award-winning SunSmart America™ Elementary School Curriculum.

Over the years, the Foundation has received many accolades and awards for its curriculum and programs. Just to name a few, the Foundation is an eleven-time winner of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Gold Triangle Award. The Melanoma Foundation has also been featured in several news articles and medical journals for its work in the area of raising sun protection and early detection awareness.

The Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation’s staff has educated hundreds of thousands of students, families, staff, and communities, to make critical sun safe choices for healthy lives. We have presented in public and private schools, community groups, professional associations, and businesses in Palm Beach County and throughout the state of Florida.

In 2009, The Foundation’s staff, Board of Directors and Palm Beach County School District Curriculum Specialists revised and updated the SunSmart America™ Curriculum to include up-to-date medical and scientific information.

SunSmart America™

SunSmart America™ has been adapted from a very successful program developed by the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, Australia. Australia has one of the highest incidences of skin cancer in the world. Through a decade-long public health, and education campaign in that region, an 11% decrease in the incidence rate of skin cancer has been realized. The success of the Anti-Cancer Council program has been recognized world-wide.

An Important Message to Educators

We all are aware of the multitude of factors that draw our youth to take part in potentially dangerous behaviors. Unhealthy peers pressures, lack of accurate information, and strong advertising, and media influences. All combine to contribute to poor decision-making. We can make a difference by giving our students the knowledge, and skills necessary to make healthy choices, now and throughout their lives.

The Palm Beach County School District and the Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation are presently working to make sun safety education constant, and systematic. Eventually reaching students beginning in Kindergarten, and moving up through all grade levels. The decision to begin sun safety education at the school level was based on the fact that skin damage begins to surface among youth in this age range. Lives may be saved by teaching students, prevention and early detection techniques that they can use now and always.

SUNSMART AMERICA™ instruction is easily integrated into most subject areas, through lessons that have been developed by a team of science teachers from the Palm Beach County School District. Science, Health and Biology classes, in particular, have been specifically selected to integrate sun safety education into lesson plans on account of the parallel content.

Skin Cancer Prevention Progress Report 2016

This second annual Skin Cancer Prevention Progress Report provides a comprehensive summary of the most recent data available and highlights developments and success stories following the Call to Action and since the release of the 2015 Progress Report.