Good vision will be the focus Jan. 13 when the Ohio Optometric Association Realeyes program will be presented to first- and second-grade students at Kateri Catholic Academy.

Realeyes connects classrooms with eye doctors in the community who present age-appropriate, standardized, interactive curriculum about the importance of vision. Now in its 12th year, the program has been presented to more than 500,000 students in schools throughout Ohio.

“Vision is important in childhood learning, and vision care is critical to the academic development of Ohio’s children,” said Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD, Associate Dean at The Ohio State University College of Optometry and Medical Director of Realeyes.

“Eighty percent of what a child learns is through sight, and research shows one in four children has an undetected eye disorder, yet alarmingly, only 14 percent of children entering school have ever had an eye examination,” Dr. Zadnik added.

The Realeyes Education Initiative was created to educate children and their parents that vision care is important for a child's success. A vision problem that could easily be corrected, if left undetected can be devastating, with efforts that can last a lifetime.

With that in mind, Oregon optometrists Drs. Kim and Lynette Powell will present “The Adventures of Rhet and Tina” to the Kateri first- and second-graders. Using puppets Rhet and Tina and hands-on activities, both the doctors will teach the importance of vision health and eye safety.

“Good vision is critical to classroom tasks, from reading the blackboard or computer screen to concentrating on tests,” Dr. Zadnik said “Also, children often accept blurred vision caused by nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism because they think everyone sees the way they do.”

Realeyes reaches students throughout Ohio through age-appropriate classroom presentations geared toward students in grades pre-K to eight. All curricula are offered at no charge to schools. Funds come from the Ohio Department of Health’s Save Our Sight program, through donations given when renewing license plates.

To schedule a Realeyes presentation or for additional information, call 614-781-0708, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.ooa.org.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed