Elk Grove Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Steven M. Ladd joined Governor Jerry Brown and other dignitaries at a celebration to launch Vision to Learn's statewide expansion at Jefferson Elementary School in Natomas on November 19.

Vision To Learn is a non-profit organization that provides free eye exams and free eyeglasses to elementary school students in low-income communities throughout the Sacramento area and Southern California. Vision to Learn was created by the Beutner Family Foundation of Los Angeles and born out of a deep belief that public education is the foundation of our future. Vision to Learn trained eye doctors bring state-of-the-art mobile eye clinics to elementary schools in low-income communities to provide free eye exams and free eye glasses. The beginning efforts for this program were centered in the Los Angeles area. 

Last spring the Beutner Family Foundation looked to expand the program to other areas, including Northern California.  Vision to Learn will serve EGUSD and Natomas Unified, and has plans to extend services to other Sacramento County school districts. 

In the spring, Dr. Ladd signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of EGUSD, and coordination to provide services then began through the collaboration of Elementary Education and Student Support and Health Services.  EGUSD Healthy Start Family Resource Centers worked with Title I schools and Vision to Learn to implement this program in September 2013.  Required student vision screening is done through EGUSD nurses, providing recommendations for further service by Vision to Learn.  Permission forms are sent home during the initial screening, the Vision to Learn van comes to the school and recommended students are examined by Vision to Learn optometrists.  Students are allowed to choose their own frames.  The free glasses are dispensed at the school site two to three weeks after initial visit. 

David Reese Elementary, Florin Elementary, Isabelle Jackson Elementary and Samuel Kennedy Elementary have recently completed student vision exams, and recommended students have been fitted for glasses. The Healthy Start Family Centers have a tentative schedule in place to complete service to all EGUSD Title 1 elementary schools by the end of February 2014.  The remaining 8 schools include:  Sierra Enterprise, Anna Kirchgater, Prairie, Herman Leimbach, Charles E. Mack, John Reith, Union House and Barbara Comstock Morse.

Click here for more information about Vision to Learn.

Harriet Eddy students were a part of the "Share Fair" on November 18 where they displayed the Discovery Science/Project Lead the Way students' model solar homes.  As part of an Energy in the Environment Unit, the students studied alternative energy resources. They then focused on solar energy, looking at the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District Solar Sunflower on campus for photovoltaic energy generation. They finished with designing and constructing model solar homes.

The Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, in cooperation with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls sponsored the 2013 California STEM Symposium, held at the Sacramento Convention Center.

This year's symposium brought together 2000 teachers, administrators, students, higher education representatives, program providers, philanthropic representatives and industry representatives to engage them in STEM education by providing strategies and resources for program implementation.

The Symposium had a special focus on increasing and supporting the participation of women and girls-as well as other underrepresented groups-in STEM fields. It also highlighted leaders in classroom innovation from across the state and attract student teams to showcase critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork.

Click here for more information about the 1^st Annual California STEM Symposium.