On November 18 we were so stoked to celebrate the building of Protect The Grom’s first shade structure at PTG’s flagship school, Lanikai Elementary Public Charter School in Oahu, Hawaii. The structure is a 24×34 ft shade awning over their Kindergarten play area and will reduce the damaging UV exposure the kids experience by 91% while they get wild at recess. A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make this happen: Espie Chapman and Ed Noh from Lanikai Elementary, Ned Nuding and Pacific Recreation, Kristen and Derek Esibill, and of course, all of the volunteers who helped with construction. Also thanks to legendary photographer and waterman, Zak Noyle for dropping by to talk about how he stays sun-safe. This really was an awesome community project.
Along with celebrating the new shade structure, we handed out hats to all the students and faculty which is such an easy and fun first line of sun defense. Lanikai Elementary Public Charter School is one of the leading schools in the nation when it comes to sun safety. They have sunscreen available in their office, a sun protection policy in their handbook, participate in national sun safety awareness days, and even have had dermatologists give free skin checks to students and parents.
We are so thankful to be able to partner with such incredible people and are stoked to bring sun protection to more and more schools. You can learn more about our Protect The Groms® mission at https://www.sunbum.com/pages/protect-the-groms // Photos by Keyana Poki
December, 2016