But nearly 90 percent of Lincoln's students come from low-income families, meaning many parents can't afford them, even if it's the difference between seeing the board and being lost in a world of talk.

"Sometimes just to get the kids to an eye exam can be difficult for some families if they're working a couple of jobs or don't have transportation," Vandeventer said.

It's something Vandeventer and others hope will change thanks to a partnership with a program that offered free eye exams and glasses Wednesday to Lincoln students. Live with Vision, sponsored by Eyeglass World and The LASIK Vision Institute, screened many Lincoln students on Wednesday.

Murray optometrist Donald Baker said vision problems often go undiagnosed in children. According to the program, 86 percent of children under the age of 12 don't receive eye exams. More than 10 million U.S. children have undetected vision problems, according to the American Optometric Association.

Baker said the first four children screened Wednesday at Lincoln had vision problems - astigmatisms and farsightedness - but no glasses.

"It's just not obvious to parents," Baker said.

Utah first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman, who spoke to Lincoln students Wednesday, said such undetected vision problems can sometimes lead to misdiagnosis.

"Sometimes with kids, they get diagnosed with a learning problem and a lot of times it's because they're not seeing properly," Huntsman said.

Some of the students who received preliminary eye exams Wednesday had already failed school eye exams two or three times but still had no glasses, said Angie Fonua, the school's family-involvement assistant.

"Glasses cost too much at other places, and here you can just get them," said second-grader Ailleen Romerez as she waited in line for her eye exam. Fifth-grader Mario Gonzalez guessed even before his eye exam Wednesday that he would need glasses.

"I think I need, a little bit, glasses because I can't see that well," Gonzalez said.

Salt Lake City School District Superintendent McKell Withers said he'd like to see the program spread to other schools in the district.

"It's amazing what you can learn when you can see and hear," Withers said.

Second-grader Fernando Hernandez said it's important for kids who need glasses to get them.

"If the teacher is doing something and you cannot see, you can do it wrong," Hernandez said.

lschencker@sltrib.com

Indications of eye problems

Signs of eye/vision problems in children:

* Frequent eye rubbing or blinking

* Short attention span

* Avoiding reading and other close activities

* Frequent headaches

* Tilting the head to one side

* Losing place when reading

* Difficulty remembering what he/she read

Source: The American Optometric Association