VCU Medical Center to Hold Annual Graduation for Pediatric Cancer Patients

By Malorie Burkett

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center will hold a special ceremony for current and former patients of the ASK Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic who are graduating from high school.

The event takes place Friday, June 6, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the MedicalSciencesBuilding auditorium, 1217 E. Marshall St.

Co-hosted by the clinic and the Hospital Education Program, the ceremony will recognize 20 seniors who have managed their academic responsibilities while undergoing treatment for cancer or sickle cell disease.

Billy K. Cannaday Jr., Ed.D., superintendent of public instruction for the Commonwealth of Virginia, will deliver the keynote address. William Heyer, a 2008 University of Richmond Law School graduate and childhood cancer survivor, also will speak.

The Association for the Support of Children with Cancer (ASK) and the Virginia Sickle Cell Awareness Program scholarship recipients will be awarded.

The graduating seniors will be recognized by educational consultant Alma Morgan and Kamar Godder, M.D., chair of the VCU School of Medicine's Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, as well as their local high school representatives.