Oct. 16, 2018 -- Teachers, parents and school nurses agree that the better a child can see, the more that child can learn. According to
Prevent Blindness America, “one in four school age children have vision problems that if left untreated, can affect learning ability, personality and adjustment in school.” So the CH-UH nursing staff is doing something about it.
On the October 5 district-wide professional development day, all 17 full-time, part-time and substitute nurses attended a six-hour training provided by
Wise About Eyes, a program of
Prevent Blindness Ohio. By the end of the day, the nurses were all certified according to the new vision screening standards adopted by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).
Arranged by Cindy Rocco, who serves as the nurse for Fairfax and Oxford elementary schools, the training was conducted by Laurie Celik, who has long been a mentor of Rocco’s. Funded with a grant from ODH, the training was not only free to attend but each nurse received $600 worth of vision screening equipment to use in their school buildings.
All schools in the state will be required to purchase this new equipment by 2020, according to Nurse Rocco. “And we got it all for free!” The nursing staff also learned about resources that will provide free or reduced cost glasses, free eye patches, and free sports goggles for students.
The training was offered at the Delisle building, yet another positive for the staff. “They came to us,” said Rocco. “Unheard of!”
