Lions Kid Sight USA visited to Clinton West on May 11 to provide free vision screenings for students.

These screenings are special because they use a photoscreening device rather than an eye chart, and Clinton West is the first school in the district to get to try it out.

The device, which is similar to a camera, takes a picture of the child's eyes and within a few seconds can analyze the results to determine if the child needs to see an eye doctor for further evaluation. The photoscreening device makes it easy to both administer and have an eye screening. With this technology, an eye exam that would normally take fifteen minutes per student takes less than a minute.

Schools are required to do vision screenings for all students in kindergarten, first grade, and third grade each year. Clinton West Health Assistant Carolyn Horn said this normally takes all year to complete. With Kid Sight, they were able to screen 145 kids in less than two hours. 

Eye health is critical to learning and student don't always know when they may be having trouble seeing, so it is important that they get routine screenings. The staff at Clinton West hopes they can work with Kid Sight more in the future.

"It means it we're giving the kids a better chance to succeed because if they can't see, they can't read," said Horn.