Free Vision Screenings, Prescription Glasses Offered to 500 FWISD Students
An invitation for free vision screenings and eye glasses was extended to about 500 Fort Worth ISD students recently. The Essilor Vision Foundation and Alcon in partnership with Fort Worth ISD and others hosted its seventh annual Kids Vision Fest, Friday, February 1 at Tarrant County College- Trinity River Campus.
Elementary school nurses gave vision pre-screenings to students prior to the event, and children who required further evaluation were invited to attend Kids Vision Fest, a mobile vision clinic. About 400 FWISD students participated in this year’s fest, according to officials.
Gift bags containing the book, “Howard and the Amazing Eye Exam,” sunglasses, and a snack were prepared for children attending Kids Vision Fest. Superintendent Kent P. Scribner attended the fest and joined Andy Pawson, president and general manager of Global Vision Care Franchise eye company Alcon, in reading “Howard and the Amazing Eye Exam” to a group of fest attendees. Dr. Scribner gave brief remarks and volunteered for an eye exam following story time.
Alcon Foundation gave away 1,000 copies of the book distributed to fest attendees and to nurse offices at every Fort Worth ISD elementary and middle school. An electronic version of Howard and the Amazing Eye Exam is available for download for 90 days at www.alcon.com or www.howardseyeexam.com.
Kid Vision Fest was sponsored by Essilor Vision Foundation and Alcon in partnership with Fort Worth ISD, TCC – Trinity River Campus, Community Eye Clinic in Fort Worth, Cedar Springs Eye Clinic in Dallas and North Texas Eye Research Institute. Dallas-based Essilor Vision Foundation launched its program Kids Vision for Life in 2008 to increase access to vision screenings and new glasses for children. Within the last decade, Tarrant County youth have received free on-site eye exams at 95 schools and more than 20,000 pairs of free prescription glasses. Since 2007, the Essilor Vision Foundation has donated $1 million toward pairs of glasses to people nationwide.
“Without this important event, many students would not be able to obtain the necessary correction (glasses) that is needed to succeed in school,” said Alice Turner-Jackson, FWISD’s Health Services director.
View Kids Vision Fest 2019 photos here.
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