{"id":183598,"date":"2022-03-30T13:35:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=183598"},"modified":"2022-03-30T13:35:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:35:21","slug":"partnering-to-give-local-schoolchildren-the-vision-to-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/03\/partnering-to-give-local-schoolchildren-the-vision-to-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"Partnering to Give Local Schoolchildren the \u2018Vision To Learn\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

For East Hartford Silver Lane Elementary School first-grader\u00a0A\u2019miyah Diaz and many of her classmates, getting prescription eyeglasses has been nothing but cause for celebration.<\/p>\n

Thanks to an effort spearheaded by UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives Gladis Kersaint<\/a>, Neag School professor and former Neag School dean, students across Connecticut are receiving free vision screenings, eye exams, and, for those in need, prescription eyeglasses as well.<\/p>\n

Initiating a conversation that led to the partnership of national nonprofit Vision To Learn with sponsors including Dalio Philanthropies, Connecticut Sun, and UnitedHealthCare, Kersaint saw a valuable opportunity that would serve children across the state.<\/p>\n

To date, Vision To Learn has provided vision screenings to more than 2,400 students in East Hartford\u2019s elementary schools. From these screenings, close to 900 students were identified in need of an eye exam, and so far, roughly 350 students have been provided a free eye exam on a mobile clinic. Students who need glasses then select their brand-new frames. Vision To Learn returns to the school in about a month to dispense and fit the glasses to each student.<\/p>\n

\u201cProviding eye exams and glasses to students was an easy sell to everyone I spoke with,\u201d Kersaint said at an event held last week at Silver Lane Elementary that brought together East Hartford mayor Mike Walsh, Connecticut\u2019s Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, representatives from the Connecticut Department of Education and numerous other agencies, as well as local parents.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cProviding eye exams and glasses to students was an easy sell to everyone I spoke with.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Gladis Kersaint, UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"A\u2019miyah
Silver Lane Elementary first-grader A\u2019miyah Diaz was one of numerous students who received free eyeglasses last week through a partnership with Vision To Learn. (Stefanie Dion Jones\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There, students including Diaz stood at the front of the gymnasium, donning their new eyeglass frames for the first time and marveling at their reflections. \u201cThey look cute!\u201d Diaz exclaimed after receiving the new blue frames she had chosen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am most excited for you, the students, who will receive glasses today and who will advance your learning by participating fully and seeing and engaging in the work,\u201d Kersaint told the children in the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs many of you are aware, for the past couple of years, we faced a number of challenges both as a school and as a community,\u201d said Joe LaBarbera, principal of Silver Lane Elementary. \u201cToday, one of the challenges will no longer be our kids\u2019 ability to see the board or the ability to read the text in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Hartford Superintendent and Neag School alumnus Nathan Quesnel \u201901 (ED), \u201902 MA, who emceed the event, was quick to credit the Neag School for bringing the effort to fruition for the students in his district.<\/p>\n

\"Gladis
Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives holds up a mirror for a Silver Lane Elementary student seeing his new eyeglasses for the first time. (Photo courtesy of Vision To Learn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of today,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a culmination of when you have an idea, you implement it, and then you have moms and dads who are sitting in the back watching their kids being showered with love and care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [work to] \u2018weave webs of empowering support around kids,\u2019 and an example of that is here,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m just appreciative of the Neag School and obviously to Gladis and Jason [Irizarry, current dean] for thinking of us and being much bigger than just words \u2013 they are taking action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to bring free vision services to Connecticut\u2019s children and fortunate to have Dr. Gladis Kersaint as one of strongest champions,\u201d says Sabrina A. Davis, program manager for Vision To Learn in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

Vision To Learn recently marked its 10th anniversary. Over the past decade,\u00a0Vision To Learn has helped provide more than 1.5 million children with vision screenings, upwards of 340,000 with eye exams, and 270,000 with glasses \u2014 all free of charge to children and their families.<\/p>\n

In Connecticut, Vision To Learn also serves students in Ansonia, Vernon, Manchester, East Haven, Winchester, and Thompson Public Schools, in addition to community organizations in the summer. For more information on Vision To Learn, please visit visiontolearn.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Inside
The Vision To Learn mobile clinic drives to school districts in need to perform eye exams for children. (Photo courtesy of Sabrina Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Four
A\u2019miyah Diaz, second from left, stands in front of the Vision To Learn mobile vision clinic with her classmates, all of whom received new eyeglasses. (Stefanie Dion Jones\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to an effort spearheaded by UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives Gladis Kersaint, Neag School professor and former Neag School dean, students across Connecticut are receiving free vision screenings, eye exams\u00a0and, for those in need, prescription eyeglasses from nonprofit Vision To Learn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":183599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1878],"class_list":["post-183598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 05:05:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183598"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183608,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183598\/revisions\/183608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/183599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183598"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=183598"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=183598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}