ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Think About Your Eyes (TAYE) the national public awareness campaign about the importance of scheduling an annual eye exam with an optometrist, attended the Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador Summit last week in Cleveland, Ohio. Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by National Football League (NFL) and National Dairy Council (NDC), founded by America’s dairy farmers, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program encourages youth to consume nutrient-rich foods and achieve at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

The 2019 Student Ambassador Summit brought together 200 middle and high school students and 115 educators to exchange ideas around promoting a healthy diet and exercise. Think About Your Eyes sponsored the event with a booth in the Expo Zone, interacting with attendees daily with activities and conversation that highlighted the importance of vision health and an annual eye exam.

TAYE staff was joined by students from the Ohio State University College of Optometry and representatives from the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA) in booth activities throughout the summit, engaging with the attendees around their vision health and the importance of annual eye exams. TAYE organized a red-carpet “selfie station” to kick off the event the first night, offering a variety of eyewear for students and educators to model in front of different backdrops. TAYE partners Hilco Vision, Essilor, Transitions, Eschenbach and The Vision Council all contributed eyewear, varying from sports safety glasses to UV protection.

The following conference days, OOA representatives interacted with attendees through their Real Eyes program, setting up a variety of physical challenges attendees had to complete with impaired vision. The activities allowed for conversation around the importance of vision health in physical activities, and how an annual eye exam is vital to continued vision health throughout life.

“TAYE’s first event outside of the vision industry illustrated the importance of sharing our messaging about the need for annual eye exams with students and teachers,” said Dr. Rick Weisbarth, chair of the Think About Your Eyes advisory board. “We look forward to continuing to partner with other organizations that promote health-related messaging.”

Think About Your Eyes is a national public awareness initiative in partnership with the American Optometric Association, focused on educating consumers about the importance of vision health and annual comprehensive eye exams. Current partners include 46 state optometric associations and AFOS, Alcon, The Vision Council, All About Vision, Gunnar Optiks, Jobson Optical Group, National Vision, Inc. (NVI), SpecialEyes, Hilco Vision, Walman Optical, Transitions, Essilor, Luxottica Group, Eschenbach, Johnson & Johnson Vision, First Vision Media Group, Vision Expo, Vispero, and Compliancy Group.