Community News & Activities

The Bright Eyes Of Wagner Middle School Shine at TEI

Wagner Middle School's Nurse Joanne Packer stands proudly beside pictures of her students sporting their new eyeglasses. (Photo by Alexis Abate)

“It’s my most favorite thing,” Nurse Joanne Packer of General Louis Wagner Middle School, 1701 W. Chelten Ave., said about her long-standing partnership with The Eye Institute (TEI). Since first taking her students to visit TEI, she has come to value the services offered as a neighborhood resource to her students and their families. “The partnership we have with TEI has provided me with a wealth of resources in terms of getting kids vision screenings and identifying children with more complex eye problems, which might not have been picked up on a regular screening,” she said. Being able to screen dozens of kids in one morning, which could take Packer two weeks to accomplish, allows her to use her time more effectively.

Adolescence is a time when eyes are changing quickly. Some of Packer’s students experience more complicated vision problems. Kids who never needed glasses or who should have received them sooner are identified for the first time through TEI screenings. Some kids who’ve worn glasses everyday also have rapid progression of their vision problems. At this age, parents often take their children to the eye doctors twice as much.

But, parents are eager to become involved and so are the kids. Many children have that “aha” moment when they first try on their glasses – now realizing the benefits of seeing clearly.

To keep the kids’ interest, Packer developed a fun tradition. Each time a student receives a new pair of glasses, he/she takes a photo - donning various facial expressions - which are on display (pictured to the right) on the walls in TEI’s pediatric department.

“This program (TEI’s partnership with The School District of Philadelphia) has done such wonders for the children to provide them with the ability to be able to see,” she said