Alvin Matthews
Director of educational Services for the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
On the table are plenty of iPads stocked with cutting-edge learning apps, but Alonso Fragoso, 12, has his nose buried in a kids’ detective novel. He’s indulging in a bit of guilty-pleasure summer reading before diving into a math tutoring session. But he’s earned the right to a little down time. After a more than three-year battle, the 7th grader is in remission from lymphoma — a cancer that took the sinister form of a tumor in his chest that had pushed aside Fragoso’s heart and paralyzed a lung. “I missed a lot of school. I didn’t get to see my friends, but I still felt I was part of the class.” That’s because he continued his studies in part through the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation’s Torino Foundation Education Services Program. “Cancer touches children not only physically,” says the foundation’s Director of Educational Services Alvin Matthews. “It affects their entire lives — and their siblings and family as well. We give those kids a sense of stability, allowing them to continue their education while they’re in treatment.” Cancer may sideline these kids, but it won’t rob them of an education. In addition to overseeing the cheerful Torino Foundation Classroom at the Sunrise Children’s Hospital (which starts bustling with kids and volunteers as soon as they open their doors), Matthews also does bedside tutoring and manages educational accommodations for ill kids who can still attend schools. Matthews’ passion for this project comes from a personal place. “My sister passed away after a six-year battle with bone cancer, and I promised to volunteer in honor of her memory,” he says. He quickly volunteered up the ranks to a full-time position. Today the program serves about 128 kids and their siblings coping with serious illness. Is the program effective? You bet your high school diploma. Matthews is proud to report that one young cancer survivor who took advantage of the foundation’s classes boosted her GPA in order to qualify to run for student body president — and win. But this program is decidedly different than your typical classroom in one crucial way. “Sometimes,” says Matthews, “the kids are so into it, we have to force them to leave!”