Bascomb Elementary Wins Grant To Install Playground Sun Shade

WOODSTOCK, GA -- Bascomb Elementary School is home to a new playground sun shade thanks to a national grant.

The school’s PTA applied for and won an $8,000 2016 Shade Structure Program Grant from the American Academy of Dermatology.

The school, which was one of only 19 winners nationwide, recently held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the installation of the permanent shade structure over the back playground.

The ceremony was attended by school and PTA leaders including Georgia PTA President Lisa-Marie Haygood; Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower; Cherokee County School Board Chair Kyla Cromer; and school board member Rick Steiner.

Atlanta North Dermatology dermatologist Dr. Jihyun "Ellen" Koo, a member of the Academy, sponsored the grant application and participated in the ceremony. Bascomb is only the second school in Georgia to win the grant since the Academy began awarding it in 2000.

“Without this grant, which will cover more than half the cost, this project would not have been possible, ” Bascomb ES PTA Immediate Past President Heather Shaw said. “We are extremely thankful to the American Academy of Dermatology, and Dr. Koo, for their help and generosity.”

The Shade Structure Grant Program is part of the Academy’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign to reduce the incidence of skin cancer by educating the public about effective skin cancer prevention tips.

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Photo 1: Bascomb ES PTA recently applied for and won an $8,000 2016 Shade Structure Program Grant from the American Academy of Dermatology to install a permanent shade structure over the back playground.
Photo 2: Celebrating the ribbon cutting for Bascomb Elementary School’s new permanent shade structure are, from left to right, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower, School Board Chair Kyla Cromer, Atlanta North Dermatology dermatologist Dr. Ellen Koo, PTA grant writer Amanda Weber, Principal Kathleen Chandler, Georgia PTA President Lisa-Marie Haygood and School Board Member Rick Steiner.
Photo 3: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower speaks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Credits: Cherokee County School District