"80 percent of learning is through the eyes:" Hundreds of MPS students receive free eyeglasses

MILWAUKEE -- Vision problems, especially in young children, can have a huge impact on learning. Now, hundreds of students in Milwaukee Public Schools will soon be able to see and read better.

Alan Garcia loves to read, but there's a problem.

"I have a big book and sometimes I don't see the words," said Garcia, a first-grader.

That is about to change. Garcia and hundreds of other students at MPS' Greenfield Bilingual School got free glasses.

"Anything from academics to behavior -- sometimes they get frustrated not being able to see what is on the board," said Juan Badillo, Greenfield bilingual assistant principal.

Wisconsin Vision, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, and the Milwaukee Teacher's Education Association have partnered to provide proper eye care to some of the city's neediest schools.

Over the last few years, they have given glasses to close to 700 students across the city.

"80 percent of learning is through the eyes, so if we don't get them to see well, how are they going to succeed in school?" said Darren Horndasch with Wisconsin Vision.

About 700 students at MPS' Greenfield Bilingual School got screened last week. On Wednesday, November 4th, 200 of them got a pair of glasses.

"Every year we have found some students that are legally blind," said MTEA President Kim Schroeder.

The students picked out their frames on Wednesday. They'll receive their glasses next week at school.