Gov. Brown applauds gift of sight at Jefferson School

--- Published on November 19th 2013 ---
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Gov. Jerry Brown came to Jefferson School to applaud the gift of sight to young students struggling to see a whiteboard.

Brown’s press conference Tuesday, November 19th, celebrated the Vision to Learn nonprofit group that has given eye examinations to 147 students at three Natomas elementary school campuses and is providing free glasses to the 97 youngsters who need them.

“We do a lot of stuff in Sacramento, a lot of it important, I think a lot of it not so important, but I always like to kind of come back to the basics,” Brown said. “And I can’t think of anything more basic than a child not being able to see the blackboard.”

Natomas parent Kathi Miller spoke at the press conference about financial despair she once felt, leading to homelessness. Vision to Learn stepped in and is providing her first-grade daughter, Grace, with a free set of glasses.

“I’m very thankful, because I just couldn’t afford it then,” she said.

Vision to Learn, funded by the Beutler Family Foundation, was created in Los Angeles but has expanded into Northern California. Besides Natomas Unified School District, it is partnering with the Elk Grove Unified School District and plans to serve the Sacramento City, San Juan, Twin Rivers and other local districts.

NUSD Superintendent Chris Evans attended Brown’s Nov. 19 press conference, as did district President Sue Heredia, trustees Teri Burns, Scott Dosick and Lisa Kaplan; Vision to Learn founder Austin Beutner; Sacramento Assemblymen Roger Dickinson and Dr. Richard Pan; Sacramento Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby, Sacramento City Council members Steve Cohn, Allen Warren and Jay Schenirer; and various other dignitaries.

Evans thanked Vision to Learn for assisting students at three elementary schools – Jefferson, Bannon Creek and American Lakes – in a way that is producing heartwarming personal stories and brighter academic prospects.

“Better sight is the obvious benefit, but it goes beyond that, because eye strain can lead to headaches, absences and lower attention span,” Evans said.

The superintendent said an aide at American Lakes School summed up best, perhaps, what it feels like to give Vision to Learn glasses to a young child struggling to read. She said, “’I felt like I was Santa Claus handing out presents,’” Evans told Brown and dozens of spectators, including a group of Jefferson students sporting new Vision to Learn glasses.

Beutner said that 250,000 students each year attend California elementary schools without glasses they sorely need. He told of one boy whose poor vision did not enable him to see leaves, so he imagined that trees were like pea pods that hid leaves inside.

“He never understood that there are actually leaves on trees,” Beutner said.

The Vision to Learn project is a personal mission for him – “it’s sort of from the heart,” he said.

“It’s a pretty good day if you can help one kid have a better path in life,” Beutner added.

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