School is back in session, and many Unalaska students got their vision checked for the first time in years.
Traveling optometrist Patrick Campaign, based in Anchorage, worked with the Lions Club, a volunteer service organization known for its work on vision care around the world. Like many remote Alaska towns, Unalaska doesn’t have an eye doctor year-round.
Campaign screened 329 students in Unalaska Aug. 24-25, with help from Unalaska’s Ballyhoo Lions Club and Anchorage’s Mountain View Lions Club.
“Usually in Anchorage, the school district requires children to go through a vision screening almost every year, if not every other year,” he said. “And it turned out that those screenings have not been capable of being done in Dutch Harbor at least since COVID.”
Unalaska City School District Superintendent Ryan Humphrey said the pause was related to the pandemic.
“It is important for our students to have good vision health,” he said in an email to KUCB.
According to Campaign, about 28% of elementary school students and nearly 40% of high school students did not pass the eye screening and were referred for a full eye exam. He said that’s well above the 15% to 18% referral rate typical on Alaska’s road system.
One likely reason for the high numbers is the long gap since students were last screened, Campaign said. Another is that students weren’t wearing their glasses.
“A few of the kids did say that they had prescriptions, but they just don't wear them because they don't think they need them,” he said.
Campaign said the eye screening is basic and includes two tests: One checks distance vision; the other uses an infrared scan to determine whether students are nearsighted or farsighted, and if they are able to see through both eyes at the same time.
Campaign used eye equipment borrowed from Anchorage and from the Unalaska City School District.
“That said, this does not substitute for an eye examination,” he said. “It’s just really catching like the most concerning of people who have vision issues.”
Campaign said that’s why even kids who did pass the screening could also benefit from a full eye exam. According to the Lions Club, vision problems can make it hard for children to learn, read and take part in school. The international organization said early screening can help prevent or cure most impairments.
Humphrey said the district plans to hold vision screenings every year from now on. He thanked Campaign, Christine King, a master optician at Optical Illusions in Unalaska who can help fit people with glasses, and Bernadette Oller Namasivayam of the Ballyhoo Lions Club for making the screenings happen this year.
