7 hats, and sunglasses, more often after the program was launched. In the 2016–2017 school year, the program expanded to include 22 public, private, and parochial schools, representing more than 10,000 students. Surveys were expanded to capture demographic characteristics, like gender, race, and grade, and include additional questions about sun-safety knowledge and attitudes. Students, parents, teachers, and school nurses were surveyed. Survey results showed that elementary and middle school students and parents learned about sun safety and did more to protect their skin from the sun. Older students, parents, and teachers were more likely to believe that having tanned skin makes you look better. More than 4 in 5 male teachers said they and their friends look better with a tan, and about 1 in 4 high school boys said they never use sunscreen. “Finding effective ways to change sun-safety attitudes and to improve sun-safe behaviors among older students and male educators will be an ongoing challenge,” said Christine Thompson, Community Programs Manager of the Nevada Cancer Coalition. “But with more Nevada students receiving sun-safety education from a young age, we expect to reduce skin cancer incidence statewide for future generations.” For more information about Nevada’s Sun Smart Schools program, visit http://nevadacancercoalition.org/ sun-smart-nevada. Building Shade Structures on Playgrounds and Sports Fields In his travels around the Northeast, Neil Spiegler noticed that most of the playgrounds and sports fields he saw were “woefully unprotected from the dangerous rays of the sun,” with little shade for the players or the spectators. As the director of thePeggy Spiegler Melanoma Research Foundation in South Jersey—and the grandfather of two boys who spend a lot of time on playgrounds and sports fields—Spiegler was keenly aware of the need to protect children and families from the dangers of too much sun exposure. “I knew something had to be done, and fast!”he said. In 2017, the Foundation decided to take steps to protect the public at outdoor venues. In November, it dedicated the first of what the Foundation hopes will be many shade structures in and around the community
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