Beautiful vision: Free eye exams and glasses set children up for success
The yellow school bus came rumbling up along the curb and the field trip was on.
Out they came, students from Warford Elementary School, their faces lit with anticipation as if they were loading up for a trip to the zoo, an ice cream shop or a bounce house.
But this trip was different.
Eye tests and — for many of them — glasses would be the adventure of this day, said the chaperone leading them to the bus.
Glasses? the children said in different ways, looks and tones, seeming to sense a special day.
The bus that was picking them up was headed downtown for Kansas City University. There the university’s free preventative program for children — Score 1 For Health — and a OneSight Foundation vision clinic would soon have a swarm of vision professionals and students waiting to assess their eyes and get them seeing sharply with style.
“It’s really an amazing opportunity for us,” said Warford Elementary School Principal Kimberly Shaw. “Everyone is going to come back so excited to show off their new eyewear.”
And LINC staff were going as chaperones along with parent liaisons from Warford — the same scene as at all the other Hickman Mills schools taking part in the day’s event.
“What makes it even better is we have a collaboration with our community partners — our LINC partners,” Shaw said, “who are here every day with our kids, who know our students.”
In all, more than 80 students from 11 Hickman Mills schools on two buses would go to the clinic. Between the trips to the clinic on the university campus and the Vision Vans that visit schools, more than 1,000 Hickman Mills students get vision screenings each year, and more than 10,000 in the Kansas City area, said Annette Campbell, the director of Score 1 For Health.
“What is so special about this week is that we are bringing all the services to our (Kansas City University) campus,” Campbell said.
It was quite a procession.
The OneSight and Score 1 For Health team ushered the groups of children from room to room with mind-easing charm.
Each child took their turn reading simple eye charts, then advancing along a regimen of optometry machines and gadgets — like keratometers, autorefractors, retinoscopes and the owl-like bank of wheels and dials of the phoropter.
This was the complete and important full eye exam that makes the children feel that they and their eyes are valued.
“The kids like the experience of getting to go through all the different stations,” said LINC Caring Communities Coordinator Lee Kupka.
And then, she said, “they get to pick out their frames with all the adults, and LINC, telling them how great they look.”
Frames came in purple, blue, black, red, clear, gold and more. One after another, when asked to pose with their chosen frames, the children propped hands on hips, or flashed peace signs and smiled as if in a fashion show.
“The students leave happy, astounded with their new eyesight,” said Danyca Singleton, the student support specialist for Hickman Mills. “Every year our numbers grow with the number of students we can offer this opportunity to. We are eliminating barriers for our families.”
The LINC teams are happy to travel alongside the students, helping the experience feel familiar and comfortable.
It’s a special day for the students and their families, said LINC Caring Communities Coordinator Wesley Cunningham. He thanked the OneSight, Score 1 For Health and Kansas City University collaboration.
“The glasses are free and everything that the kids need is given to them,” he said. “I love this opportunity that they (the children) have. All kids need to be able to see, so I appreciate that they do this for us.”
By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer
