Denair students will have access to free eye screening on Monday thanks to a partnership between a local nonprofit organization and a national health company.
The program is known as Glasses 2 Classes. It offers free eye screening and same-day glasses for up to 200 students of all ages per district. The Optical Academy of New Jersey runs it and Turlock-based Legacy Health Endowment is underwriting the cost of the clinics next week in Denair and four other school districts in Stanislaus and Merced counties.
At each clinic, Optical Academy’s mobile vision team will bring its state-of-the-art equipment to a school site to provide students with free eye screening and examinations. If students need glasses, they are made onsite that day and provided at no cost.
The Denair clinic will begin at 9 a.m. in the Denair Middle School library. All 200 slots are spoken for; there is no room for additional sign-ups at this point.
The district partners with the Denair Lions Club annually to conduct vision screenings in the required grade levels and the Lions connect students who need glasses with local optometrists. But not all students are screened every year.
“The Optical Academy is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to refer children who appear to be having vision issues to be evaluated by a team of professionals so that correction can happen quickly,” said Denair Unified Superintendent Terry Metzger. “This is another great service to our students and families made possible by our generous partner, Legacy Health Endowment.”
Jeffrey Lewis, President and CEO of Legacy Health Endowment, said Glasses 2 Classes has the potential to positively impact hundreds of lives.
“Being able to see correctly is critical to any student’s success in or out of the classroom,” he said. “We are happy to be able to bring a proven program such as Glasses 2 Classes to this area.”
Abby Ayoub, founder of Optical Academy, praised LHE for providing the money to put on the clinics.
“Without partners with passion like the Legacy Health Endowment, we can’t deliver these crucial onsite mobile vision services,” Ayoub said. “We are extremely excited to serve students in the comfort of their school and engage them in making their glasses.”
