Weiser Lions Club visits local schools for annual vision tests

Members of the Weiser Lions Club conducted their annual vision checks of students at local schools last week.   

 Every year the Lions bring their screening equipment to schools to check students for vision issues. What used to take weeks to complete can now be done in a few hours with today’s technology. The club has been doing vision screening locally at schools since the 1970s. 

 The Lions tested more than 500 students over four days at Pioneer Elementary School, Annex School, Park Intermediate School, Weiser Middle School and Indianhead Academy last week. 

 In May, the club also screened kindergarden students during registration. Officials said it was important to catch any vision problems early with kids.

 Weiser Lions Juanita Moyle, Marlene Plate and John Aegerter joined school district nurse Karma Laan in testing more than 130 eighth graders at Weiser Middle School on Friday, the last school on the list. 

 The vision screening was done with the handheld PediaVision equipment. The device is connected to a computer monitor and scans the eyes in a matter of seconds. 

 The devices can screen anyone from infants to senior citizens. They can detect many common vision problems in children, such as near sightedness, far sightedness, blurred vision/eye structure problems, unequal refractive power, pupil size deviations and eye misalignment.  

 The Weiser Lions also used a new PlusOptix vision screening device for the first time. 

 The Weiser Lions joined with the Vale, Fruitland and Payette clubs to purchase the new PlusOptix device that is smaller and faster than the older PediaVision equipment. The new equipment costs $6,000 and will be used by all four clubs.  

 During the screenings, each student sits in a chair, and it takes only seconds to complete the vision check. The device is pointed at the student from about three feet away and it scans the eyes using binocular infrared photo retinoscopy. It provides immediate pass or refer screening results, which are recorded for all of the students.

 If a vision issue is detected during the screening, the school nurse is notified and the school follows up with the child’s parents. Children often do not know they have a vision issue, which could potentially affect their academic performance.

 If parents are unable to pay for glasses, the Lions Club can help with the costs of a complete eye exam and glasses. The parents would need to fill out a form and return it to the Lions Club.

 Lions Clubs across the nation and world are known for their efforts to promote vision and sight in communities and around the world. 

 It’s a mission the organization has had for many decades. In 1925, Helen Keller, an advocate for the sight impaired, called the Lions “Knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”

 As just one of their vision projects, Lions across the nation place collection boxes all over for used eyeglasses, which are then recycled to others in need.

 The Weiser Lions Club always welcomes new members. The Lions meet at Idaho Pizza on the first Wednesday of each month at noon and the third Wednesday at 5 p.m. Anyone interested in becoming involved in community service is welcome to attend.