Greater Lexington Chamber & Visitors Center issued the following announcement on September 24.
September 23, 2021, LEXINGTON, S.C – The Lexington One Educational Foundation recently awarded a $25,500
Health Fund Grant to the Lexington County School District One Office of Student Services to support the
nurses and all students in the district. This grant will enable the district to purchase three additional vision
spot screeners and flash drives for all of the devices that the district owns.
In 2019, an Educational Foundation grant purchased the first vision spot screener for Lexington District One
Student Services and it originally served to test the vision of the district’s pre-K students, students with
cognitive or developmental delays, and students with limited language or speech abilities. Soon after the
COVID-19 pandemic became a reality, the Lexington One nurses began to use the original screener to its
fullest extent possible, as it allowed a nurse to test a student’s vision while being safely socially distanced a
few feet away.
These vision spot screeners are also important in saving our families time and money by quickly and easily
determining if vision is a concern for a student. Since our school nurses are tasked with performing mass
vision screenings of students each year in an effort to identify visual defects that may negatively affect a
student’s ability to learn, having a way to accurately test vision at our schools benefits the family. Prior to
these devices being used, sometimes students were inadvertently referred to a professional only to discover
that vision was not the concern. With the vision spot screener a student’s vision is tested and then the device
prints the results; a student can then take this report to a local optometrist or ophthalmologist if needed for
further help.
Nursing and Health Services Director Amy A. Wood, RN, stated, “The three vision screeners and seven flash
drives that will be purchased by the Lexington One Educational Foundation’s Health Fund Grant will greatly
assist our nursing teams in testing our students throughout the district for vision problems. With the Lexington
District One enrollment now being close to 28,000 students, testing the vision of all of our students is a
formidable task. We really appreciate the continued grant support the Educational Foundation provides,
which will benefit our students and assist with their health needs.”
Mrs. Wood shared that the vision spot screeners assess the three most common vision issues: hyperopia
(farsightedness), myopia (nearsightedness), and astigmatism (blurred vision) – as well as eye alignment,
unequal pupil size and refractive power.
Chief Student Services Officer Jeff Caldwell stated, “We are extremely grateful to the leadership of the
Lexington One Educational Foundation in making our children’s eye health such a high priority. The purchase
of the screeners and flash drives will enable our school nurses to quickly and more easily identify potential
vision problems for many of our students, at no cost to the families, so that these students with concerns can
get the care needed for vision improvement.”
About Lexington County School District One Educational Foundation
Established in 1994 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, the Lexington One Educational Foundation is a source of growth and support for Lexington County School District One. Our mission is to support the district’s educational programs and enrich the quality of life in our community by raising and managing funds. Annually, the Foundation works to build partnerships with individuals and corporations in order to benefit our students, teachers, and schools. We plant seeds in our district that bloom into amazing educational opportunities for our students! To learn more about our mission and how to give, visit: www.lexington1.net/educationalfoundation.
Lexington One Educational Foundation Executive Director Julie Anderson Washburn; Chair of the
Educational Foundation Board of Directors R. Christopher Rice; Lexington District One’s Nursing and Health
Services Director Amy A. Wood, RN; and Lexington District One Chief Student Services Officer Jeff Caldwell
Original source can be found here.
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