Spot check: School celebrates students, offers vision screening
Published 12:09 am Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Karen Kistler
karen.kistler@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Class by class, the students at Sacred Heart Catholic School were brought to the cafeteria to participate in the vision screening offered by the Salisbury Lions Club.
Two members of the local club, Rik Spencer and Pam Holt, conducted the free screening beginning at 9 a.m. on Jan. 28 to those wishing to have their vision checked using the handheld SPOT Vision Screener.
Erin Brinkley, the school’s principal, said this was her fourth year to serve in that role and the Lion’s Club has come all of those years to the school to conduct the screening.
“We always have them come out at Catholic Schools Week,” she said.
Plus, Brinkley said, that particular Tuesday was the day “we celebrate our students, and celebrating our students is kind of looking out for their overall wellbeing. So that’s why vision screening is important.”
Another special feature on this day was the celebration of pajama day with many students and teachers participating in the event.
Spencer said the local Lions Club, which meets at the Harold B. Jarrett Legion Building has had the SPOT device for approximately seven years, and they have conducted screenings at all of the Rowan County pre-K sites, along with some private and public schools.
The primary focus of the club, he said, is helping those who are visually impaired or blind and they’ve always had the Snellen chart and offered vision screenings that way.
“But when this technology became available, we knew we wanted to get involved with it,” he said.
The process is quick with the child looking at the device for just a few seconds, and then it provides a reading.
The scanner, he said, “will identify any of a number of potential visual abnormalities that a child might have,” adding that what it does is screening and not diagnostic. Therefore, if it reads something outside of the normal range, that doesn’t mean there’s a problem, or if it comes up normal, doesn’t mean everything is normal, “but it’s a pretty accurate device,” said Spencer.
When a reading outside the normal range does occur, a report is printed and sent to the parents along with a recommendation that they see an eye doctor, he said.
Some of the conditions that the SPOT can identify, which were provided on some paperwork from the Lion’s Club members, and are also noted on the Vision Screening Summary report can include anisocoria, which is characterized by an unequal size of the eye’s pupils; anisometropia, good vision in one eye and farsightedness or nearsightedness in the other; astigmatism; gaze asymmetry and gaze deviation or commonly known as a ‘lazy eye’; hyperopia or farsightedness; and myopia or nearsightedness.
The report also provides the prescription numbers that could correct the farsighted and nearsighted issues; however, Spencer did stress “they need to be seen by a professional.”
Spencer and Holt took turns operating the SPOT Vision Screener while the other stayed busy printing any necessary reports or holding up screens to block light, which could cause a glare and prevent the device from working properly.
After checking the students at Sacred Heart Catholic School, Spencer said they would be right at 2,000 students they have seen, with two more schools on their calendars to visit.
Having the club members visit the school and provide this service meant a lot to the staff at the school.
Brinkley said that this is “extremely beneficial because the parents may not be aware that their child’s vision may have changed and the great thing about this is that it doesn’t require a response. So you’re not depending on the small child to tell you what something is. The technology is amazing.”
Students needing and getting glasses have been found in past years through the use of this device, she said.
“We’re just making sure that all their needs get met. And this is one way that we’re able to do that,” she said.
Carla Epps, a teacher at the school, expressed how great she said it was to have them come and offer this to them.
“I think it’s just a wonderful community service that by having their eyes checked, we can head off future problems,” said Epps, adding that a child’s problem reading could really be that they can’t see and therefore it’s holding them back.
“This gets them a jumpstart on their life,” she said.
Holt, who has been a member of the Lions Club for almost two years, was a school nurse when she lived in Greensboro and the club helped her get a pair of glasses for a child. Being involved as a school nurse and the vision issues that children have is what caused her to want to get involved in the organization.
She first tried to join years ago in Nashville she said but women were not allowed at that time. However, when she moved to Salisbury, that had changed and Spencer approached her about joining the Salisbury club.
Holt said she started knocking on doors to see if they could expand where they were able to get in and provide these vision screenings.
She said she accompanied Spencer and helped with the screenings even before she officially joined the club. Prior to having the SPOT device, they used the Snellen chart, “and we missed so many things, and this camera is just so incredible,” said Holt.
Telling of an instance in the mountains where the camera had been used, Holt said it detected something was wrong and following an appointment to Duke, it was determined a child had a congenital abnormality, something which would not have been found by using a Snellen chart.
Spencer, who has been a member for eight years, said he was familiar with the projects that the club is involved with and said “it was something that just had an appeal to me. I felt like I would like to be a part of (it) and maybe could make a small contribution, too.”
In addition to the screenings offered at the schools, other services and events provided by the club include an annual Christmas party and spring cookout for the legally blind and visually impaired in Rowan County, an annual Putt-Putt competition at Dan Nicholas Park, held in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Department, a fishing tournament, a golf tournament fundraiser, the providing of eyeglasses for patients who don’t have Medicaid or private insurance following an application process and if they meet the criteria and the collection of glasses which are sent around the world to help those who need them.
Spencer said that because the glasses are prescription, and that “you can’t use prescription items in the United States, they are used internationally.”
While the club’s main focus is helping with vision issues, Spencer said several other missions they are involved with include childhood cancer and diabetes.
The Lions, he said, are the largest service organization in the world and have approximately 1.4 million members throughout 200 countries.
“So, it’s a big service organization,” he said.