Mary Lauritzen of West Point was recently honored with the prestigious Eyes on Nebraska Award, presented by the Nebraska Optometric Association (NOA) during its fall conference in Kearney this September. The award celebrates individuals, organizations, and companies that have made significant contributions to preventing eye disease, promoting vision health, and educating the public about eye care. Lauritzen’s dedication to advancing children’s vision health made her a fitting recipient of this honor, recognizing her lifelong commitment to making a difference in the lives of Nebraska’s youth.
“There has always been a strong connection between vision and learning,” Lauritzen said. She noted that in recent years, effectively communicating this message to parents, educators, and schools had its challenges. A major catalyst for her advocacy efforts for children’s vision was the shift in classroom learning methods. As classrooms evolved, learning required students to frequently shift their focus between distant blackboards, mid-range computer screens, and up-close books throughout the day.
Vision advocacy in Nebraska
Lauritzen’s passion for vision advocacy stretches back five decades. As President of the Auxiliary to the American Optometric Association, she led the transformation of the group into a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, now known as the American Foundation for Vision Awareness. She was also the visionary behind the term “See to Learn,” a nationwide program focused on early childhood vision care.
Building on these national successes, Lauritzen turned her attention to her home state of Nebraska. She spearheaded the conversion of the Nebraska auxiliary into the Nebraska Foundation for Children’s Vision (NFCV), an organization committed to improving vision care for Nebraska’s children.
“Our organization was founded in 1927 as the Auxiliary to the American Optometric Association, based on the premise that ‘Healthy Children Learn Best,’” Lauritzen said. The organization’s mission revolves around sending the “whole child” to school. In order to learn, the child “must be rested, well-fed, clean, in good health, with all senses in working order—and they must be able to see to learn.”
In 1998, the Nebraska Auxiliary officially became the NFCV with a clear goal: “That every child entering school in Nebraska be visually ready to learn.”
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