Annual graduation for VCU Medical Center pediatric cancer patients

By Joe Kuttenkuler and Alma Morgan

WHAT:         One of the area’s first high school graduation celebrations this spring will be for 14 special students who have dealt with a major health challenge, like cancer or sickle cell anemia.

While juggling treatment schedules, these students from several school districts from across Central Virginia kept up with their schoolwork – whether they were seen as out-patients or experienced extended stays in the hospital. The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center’s education program coordinated academic assignments with each student’s school division and as a result, all are scheduled to graduate from high school this spring. 

Sponsored by the staff of the Hospital Education Program and the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic at the VCU Medical Center, this annual celebration is a time to honor the students/patients – the graduates – and their families for how they have handled their academic responsibilities in the face of health adversity.

Scholarships will be presented from the Association for the Support of Children with Cancer, known as ASK, and Virginia Motorcyclists Against Cancer. The special guest speaker is William Heyer, a 2004 graduate of Randolph Macon College and former VCU Medical Center pediatric cancer patient.

WHEN:         June 4, 2004, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

WHERE:          Medical Sciences Building, 1217 E. Marshall St.

WHO:              ·  E. Clifton Russell, M.D., director, pediatric
                           hematology/oncology

·  Alma Morgan, educational consultant, VCU Medical Center

·  William Heyer, pediatric cancer survivor and guest speaker