An estimated 15,000 students in Hawaii need glasses.

Advantage Kokua has partnered with Vision To Learn to provide students with expanded access to vision screenings, eye exams and eye glasses.

Vision To Learn In Hawaii

An estimated 15,000 students in Hawaiʻi need glasses, and as part of a statewide expansion which occurred in 2019, Vision To Learn has expanded its services to include on a regular basis the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, Kauai, Maui, and Molokaʻi, in addition to Oahu.

Oahu

Vision To Learn launched in the Aloha State in August 2015, with an event at Kalihi Waena Elementary School in Honolulu. Governor David Ige and Mayor Kirk Caldwell spoke at the event, which was emcee’d by former Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe. Vision To Learn collaborates throughout the state with Project Vision Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit which provides vision screenings at schools.

Vision To Learn’s work in Oahu is supported by First Hawaiʻian Bank Foundation, Hawaiʻi Pizza Hut Literacy Fund, and the Pion Family, among other charitable foundations, elected leaders, and educational and vision advocates. In Fall 2017, Vision To Learn began serving schools throughout the Windward Coast with a generous grant from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation.

In February 2019, Vision To Learn celebrated a major expansion that will bring access to basic vision care to thousands more students annually. Through the addition of a new full-time mobile clinic and an expanded collaboration with the Hawai’i Department of Education and a coalition of funders, the program plans to provide vision screenings to 20,000 students in the coming year, and to provide 3,000 eye exams and 2,400 pairs of glasses.

“Vision is where success in life starts,” said Terrence R. George, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation President and CEO. “When you can see what your teacher and classmates are communicating, you are able to take the next step in school and in society.”

Big Island

Vision To Learn’s first visits on the Big Island happened in April 2017, supported by grants from Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association and Hawaiʻi Lions Foundation. In collaboration with Project Vision Hawaiʻi, Vision To Learn serves schools in low income areas of the island. This project demonstrates the ability of Vision To Learn to serve students throughout the State of Hawaiʻi, and sets the stage for a larger expansion of services.

Kauai

In September 2016, Vision To Learn worked with Project Vision Hawaiʻi on a project serving students in Kauai. After initial screenings, Vision To Learn examined 99 children and provided 56 pairs of glasses. Kauai County Mayor Bernard Carvalho assisted with distribution of glasses at Kekaha Elementary School.

The project was made possible in part by funding from Kaiser Permanente Hawaii and Saltchuk Hawaii.

How Vision To Learn Works

MOUs

Vision To Learn (VTL) partners with school districts through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines the responsibilities of Vision To Learn and the district. Vision To Learn’s program model makes it easy for students to access eye care, and easy for schools to bring Vision To Learn to campus. Typical district responsibilities include coordinating consent forms for exams and escorting kids from the classroom to the mobile clinic. The program begins with vision screenings for all students, utilizing medically appropriate tools.

Vision Screenings

If a district has school nurses or a health department, they may conduct the screening. As needed, Vision To Learn will provide additional tools and staff to supplement screenings, so that every student, K-12, can be properly evaluated.

Eye Exams

Following the full-school vision screenings, Vision To Learn’s staff will coordinate with school site staff and district administrative staff to schedule one or more visits from the VTL mobile vision clinic. VTL’s clinics are converted sprinter vans, each with a self-contained optometric exam lane. The clinic can park anywhere on campus. Inside the mobile clinic, a licensed optometrist will provide eye exams for all students who failed the initial vision screening.

Frame Selection

Students who are prescribed glasses will then choose their frames, with the guidance of VTL’s optician. All students will have a wide selection of fashionable styles and colors to choose from in their size. Students will be escorted to and from class to the clinic in small groups, and will spend, on average, twenty minutes in total out of class. Because the students pick out their own frames, it’s a fun experience!

Getting New Glasses

Approximately two weeks following the exam day, Vision To Learn’s optician will return to the school to provide the students their glasses. The optician will fit the glasses to each student individually, and instruct them on caring for and cleaning their lenses. If the students’ glasses are lost or broken, Vision To Learn will replace them free of charge within a year.

TAKE ACTION

Support expanded vision care for Hawaii’s youth by joining us at our next fundraiser.