(PRESS RELEASE) CHICAGO – The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness (NCCVEH) has announced the recipient of the sixth annual “Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award” as Logan Newman, NBCT, ABO, MS Ed, program developer and NYS certified science teacher and career in technical experience teacher at the East High School Vision Care Program. The award will be presented at the NCCVEH Annual Meeting, held virtually this year, on Aug. 18 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
Logan Newman
The Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award recognizes significant efforts by an individual or group of individuals to improve public health approaches for children’s vision and eye health at the state or national level. The award was established in 2014 by the Advisory Committee of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness to commemorate Bonnie Strickland and her groundbreaking work to establish a comprehensive system for children’s vision in the U.S. She served as Director of the Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs, Maternal and Child Health Bureau before her retirement in 2014. In this capacity, Bonnie was a powerful force, improving vision for children through strong national partnerships, innovative program approaches, and enhanced national surveillance.
Newman, a former US Navy medic with training as an optician, and current East High School science teacher, was selected by the all-volunteer Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award Committee in recognition of his innovative, educational and vocational approach to vision and eye care for disadvantaged and underserved youth in Rochester, New York.
Under Newman’s direction, local volunteer eye care providers perform refractive examinations in the Rochester City schools for students who do not pass their school-based vision screening. Newman and his team of student-opticians have provided over 100 clinics for eyeglasses- including eyeglass selection, fitting, and dispensing- throughout Rochester City Schools. Prescription eyeglasses are provided free of charge. To date, more than 5,000 pairs of glasses have been made for RCSD students.
In addition, Newman created the program to teach high school students the necessary skills to make eye glasses and work as student-opticians at the Vision Care school clinics over the course of three years.
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- Year 1 is a fabrication course where the students learn how to make glasses and use the tools needed to manufacture the glasses.
- Year 2 is a dispensing course where students work with patients and doctors and learn patient skills as the dispense glasses in a team setting.
- Year 3 is a leadership course where students learn to manage the clinics and assist the school nurse as they perform visual acuities for RCSD students.
Students in the program collect college credits toward an optician degree at Erie Community College in Williamsville, New York. Many students have gone on to obtain optician degrees from ECC while Newman has helped others obtain work as optical lab technician’s right out of high school.
“Being an educator myself, I know the tremendous impact that healthy eyesight can have on a student’s ability to perform well in the classroom,” said Newman. “I created the East High Vision Care Program not only to help provide eyecare services and glasses to those who need it most, but to put the next generation of eyecare providers on the right path to help others see clearly in the future.”
Past recipients of the Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award include Anne L. Coleman, MD, MPH, UCLA Stein Eye Institute, for her efforts to improve children’s vision through stakeholder engagement, resource development, and services to high-risk populations of children, specifically through her work at the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic (UMEC). Additional past recipients include the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study Group, Richard Bunner, retired from the Ohio Department of Health; Sean P. Donahue, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University; the Illinois Eye Institute (IEI) at Princeton Vision Clinic; and the Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s (PPOC).
“Prevent Blindness congratulates Mr. Logan Newman on this outstanding program that provides much-needed eyecare services to students, while also creating opportunities for our future sight-savers through skills and leadership training,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “The East High Vision Care Program is a shining example of the positive outcomes that are possible when local eye doctors, educators, and schools collaborate.”
For more information on the 2020 Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award, Prevent Blindness or the NCCVEH, click here or contact Donna Fishman at (800) 331-2020 or dfishman@preventblindness.org.
