Children Get New Look, Better View

There was strength in numbers at an optical store Wednesday as grade school students were examined and fitted for eyeglasses, often an ordeal for young children self-conscious about being different.

But, since they went as a group, it was as though they were members of an exclusive club.

The store served nearly 50 students from 10 elementary schools in Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, donating a pair of glasses to each as part of LensCrafters’ nationwide “Gift of Sight” program.

“The joy of this program is that children feel so proud to wear their glasses,” said Janis Lake, a school nurse who organized the effort at campuses in the Canoga Park-Taft-El Camino Real high school clusters. “It’s done in such a loving way that they feel so special when they get their glasses.”

Children are referred to the program by school nurses, who conduct regular eye exams on students. The children chosen to receive free glasses are those who need them but whose parents have not yet been able to buy them.

Arisa Dovris, general manager of the Woodland Hills store, said children’s glasses can cost up to $200 at her store.

She said that each year the employees look forward to the day when the children come in. They play games with them, give them treats to calm their nerves and set up videos for them to watch while they wait for their exams.

She said many of the children balk when they see the frames on their faces for the first time. “But as soon as they get the prescription in and put them on and for the first time they can see clearly, their whole opinion changes--for a while at least,” she said.