by: mary caton
understanding more about brain tumour survivors is the goal a new national educational resource program developed with the help of two windsor residents.
ryan palazzolo, a university of windsor student, and tara malone, a teacher at riverside secondary school, were on a committee that created more than 20 lesson plans for the brain tumour foundation of canada.
the superkids program launched last week, offering free lesson plans for students from grades k-12.
the committee behind it is a mix of patients, survivors, teachers and post-secondary students.
malone was one of four teachers who helped shape the curriculum.
“i think it was important to have pre-ready lessons with handouts and activities, especially this year when teachers are so overwhelmed,” said malone, referring to the covid-19 pandemic and its impact on normal classroom delivery.
malone taught a brain tumour survivor several years ago and her son’s friend is also a survivor.
“a lot of teachers don’t know how to approach a student whose had a brain tumour,” malone said. “that’s part of the superkids program, to build that understanding.”
brain tumours can affect people in different ways. they can cause memory loss, personality changes, difficulty speaking or processing thoughts.