Texans Can Academy - Dallas Pleasant Grove and the Essilor Vision Foundation partnered to provide students with free eye exams and glasses earlier this month. Through the Kids Vision For Life program, an astounding 147 students at this campus received free exams and glasses in one day. This is the largest amount of free glasses to students the program has provided in a single day at any Texans Can Academy campus in the three years they have partnered together.

“Texans Can Academy - Dallas Pleasant Grove is thankful for the Kids Vision For Life program and all it has done to help the students,” said Texans Can Academy - Dallas Pleasant Grove Principal Mene Khepera. “Healthy vision is vital to a student advancing in their education and the students love being involved in the process by picking out their own glasses. Not only does the program improve the students’ vision by providing free glasses, but it also improves the students’ focus and motivation in the classroom.”

Kids Vision For Life has worked with Texans Can Academies for low-cost vision services since 2015. They provide direct vision services to students through mobile clinics and are able to make prescription glasses the same day as the on-site exam. Texans Can Academy absorbs the $50 fee per student for eyeglasses, frames and lenses, freeing students and their families of any financial responsibility.

Texans Can Academy - Dallas Pleasant Grove also partners with a low-cost vision clinic where qualified students can get glasses for just $10 a pair. In addition, each campus recently purchased a Plusoptix Vision Screener, which is a handheld device that takes less than a second to determine whether a student needs glasses or not. The new equipment will help staff at each campus test every incoming student for vision problems.

Since the partnership began, the Essilor Vision Foundation has contributed vision services to eight out of the 14 total Texans Can Academy campuses. Over 4,500 Texans Can Academies’ students have received free glasses through the program and during the 2018-19 school year-to-date, more than 400 of their students have received eye exams and new glasses.

Texans Can Academies welcome the Kids Vision For Life program to campuses as needed during each school year. The schools uphold the mission of providing students with solutions to any basic human need in order for all students to attain an education without any barriers. Many of the students who attend the schools experience barriers to their education such as poverty, little access to basic resources, early parenthood and more. Today, Texans Can has 14 campuses located in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio and has impacted the lives of over 151,000 students. 

For more information about Essilor Vision Foundation or Kids Vision For Life, please visit www.evfusa.org. For more information about Texans Can Academies, please visit www.texanscan.org.

The Dallas Snapchat team joined students at the Texans Can Academy - Ross Avenue campus to speak to them about the importance of social media etiquette. Their timing was especially relevant because they visited on World Kindness Day.

Texans Can Academies provides an educational route for youth and non-traditional students in need, who would otherwise not have the means to receive a proper high school education. Many of the students who attend the schools experience barriers to their education such as poverty, little access to basic resources, early parenthood and more. Today, Texans Can has 14 campuses located in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio and has impacted the lives of over 151,000 students.  

For more information, please visit www.texanscan.org.

Texans Can Academy – Garland is preparing for dual credit courses in conjunction with Richland College, one of the seven independently accredited colleges of the Dallas County Community College District. The courses began October 29, 2018. Students are taking the opportunity to earn high school and college credit in a series of Career and Technology courses such as Business English, Introduction to Keyboarding, Microsoft Office and others. 

“This is a new program for Texans Can Academy - Garland, but we look forward to this journey of ensuring our scholars have a pathway to college and career readiness,” says Texans Can Academy - Garland Principal Dr. Daniel Johnson. 

Richland College recently hosted a college orientation to help students with completing college enrollment forms. During the orientation, 41 Texans Can Academy – Garland students received college ID cards, toured the campus and participated in a community building activity. Most importantly, they got to envision their futures after high school graduation from high school.

By expanding their college and career-readiness courses offered to students, Texans Can Academies are expanding life opportunities for non-traditional students.

About Texans Can Academies

Celebrating 33 years of providing the highest quality education for all students, Texans Can schools are graduating thinkers.  Texans Can Academies are a unique network of 14 public schools in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.  The schools are tuition-free, open enrollment, public high schools of choice serving students who have struggled in a traditional high school setting.  To date, more than 143,000 youth have been given a second chance at life with the opportunity to pursue their dreams.  Cars for Kids is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization benefiting Texans Can Academies and is the only car donation program in Texas that is operated by the charity it serves.  For more information, visit: www.texanscan.org or www.carsforkids.org.  

Three young women at Texans Can Academy - Dallas Oak Cliff attended their first session of The Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas’ Latinas in Progress (LIP) Education Series at Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, Texas.  

The LIP Education Series meets with the students on college campuses and teaches them about applying to college and college life, ways to improve their writing skills, how to be more assertive, the importance of civic participation, health and wellness tips, other important life skills, and college campus safety. The first of five sessions was on October 27, 2018 and instructed students about college life, the benefits of having a college degree and how having a degree can impact their future. The last session is a graduation celebration and will be held in May 2019.

“It’s important for our Latina youth to have positive role models and also exposure to the resources for college,” said Texans Can Academy - Dallas Oak Cliff adviser, Nidia Machuca. Nidia is a committed student adviser who volunteers to work with the students.

At the end of the LIP program, these students will be eligible for scholarships to assist with college.

For more information, please visit www.texanscan.org.

Texans Can Academies’ campuses recently held on-campus voter registration drives to help eligible students register to vote. To complete the voting experience, Texans Can Academy - Dallas Ross Avenue campus made it possible for their students to vote during the early voting period. The campus provided transportation for students requesting help to vote at the nearest poll location. When the students arrived, volunteers at the polls walked the first-time voters through the process of casting their first ballot.

“Excitement and enthusiasm were evident as our students headed towards their first voting experience. They were well prepared to make their own informed decisions to go through the voting process, and were ready to make their voices heard,” said Texans Can Academy - Dallas Ross Avenue Principal Rufus Johnson.

The voting process itself and the election site can be very intimidating to first-time voters. The school’s teachers assisted eligible students to register and educate the voters on the full election process. The school shared all candidate, proposition and other information that the students would find on their individual precinct ballots. They also went over polling site etiquette.

“We have encouraged our students as future good citizens to get involved in their community and country,” continued Principal Johnson. “In line with our mission to ‘Graduate Thinkers’ we encourage them to seek out information about candidates and issues from credible sources and decide what's important to them.”

Texans Can Academies provides an educational route for youth and non-traditional students in need, who would otherwise not have the means to receive a proper high school education. Many of the students who attend the schools experience barriers to their education such as poverty, little access to basic resources, early parenthood and more. Today, Texans Can has 14 campuses located in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio and has impacted the lives of over 151,000 students. 

For more information, please visit www.texanscan.org.