CV Adult School Graduates Prove

It’s Never Too Late

One of the dignitaries visiting the Castro Valley Adult & Career Education (CVACE) graduation ceremony on June 7th turned to Assistant Principal Keith Nauman and said, “Is it always this emotional?” Mr. Nauman responded, “It sure is.”

There is something particularly inspiring about seeing adults reach their goals, many with their children in the audience proudly looking on and learning the example of resilience. CVACE honored eight students who had completed their GED, and 14 earned their high school diplomas at an inspiring commencement ceremony.

Maria Cornellier brought many in the audience to tears. She shared that she was not allowed to attend school as a child. When she arrived at the adult school, she could not read and had to count on her fngers he was so ashamed that she sat in the back with a hoodie on her head. With the love and encouragement of her frst teacher aresse g yen Maria began coming to the board to answer questions and elt pride in hersel or the frst time in her life. It took ten years, but Maria is now a high school graduate. She is on a path to becoming an addiction counselor and will be honored by the California Adult Education Program Technical Assistance Program for her accomplishments.

Edel M Lopez-Cruz also inspired the crowd with his story as a GED graduate. When he came to this country at 15, his priority was work, not education. Now he is a proud graduate with a good job and a s pporti e fanc e e tal ed about what a special place CVACE is and how the caring staff helped him academically and emotionally to fnd his inner strength to succeed. One graduate held her 3-month-old baby on her lap, wearing a tiny graduation cap. It was both adorable and motivating. Are you someone who didn’t fnish yo r ed cation and are ready for a new beginning or to be an example to your children? If you could use support to complete your high school diploma or GED, contact CVACE at (510) 8861000 or visit www.cvadult.org.

Make it a Summer of Skin Care

By Mike McGuire CASTRO VALLEY FORUM

As people head out for that beach, lake, or pool to get a nice healthy tan this summer and build up their body’s stores of Vitamin D while avoiding getting sunburned, dermatologists would like to help you improve those plans just a bit.

People can avoid sunburn entirely while unwittingly exposing themselves to skin cancer. Medical experts say that your body needs very little sunlight to produce plenty of Vitamin D—and tans aren’t actually good for you.

Tans are evidence of damage to DNA in the skin, even if it looks great, says dermatologist Akhil Wadhera, M.D., who heads the Cancer Committee at Kaiser Permanente’s San Leandro and Fremont medical centers,

Skin cancer is the hidden danger of having fun in the sun, Wadhera said. If you use enough of it, Sunblock does a good job of blocking sunburn — but not all sunblocks guard against the kind of ultraviolet radiation that gives you skin cancer. see SUMMER on page 4

Children are at the most risk, said Wadhera. Not only do children tend to get more sun exposure than adults, but they are more prone to the kind of skin damage that will later cause cancer. One blistering sunburn in a child is thought to double their risk of later developing skin cancer, while he said an adult would need to get f e o those or the same risk increase.

CVHS student journalists have once again excelled in annual competitions, winning dozens of awards. See complete list of award winners at: mycvforum.com