Make eye exams part of the back-to-school checklist. Your kids and their teachers will thank you

When a little boy burst into tears in her third-grade classroom last fall, Audrey Jost pulled him aside while the other kids were at recess. He said he was getting headaches and falling behind the other students, so Jost spoke with his parents about getting his eyes tested.

A few days later the boy returned with contact lenses, seeming like a different kid, said Jost, who teaches in a public school in Gilbert, Arizona.

“It was amazing, just the change that that had in him, academically, socially,” she said. “He just lit up that day.”

In her 18 years of teaching, Jost said she’s seen this problem — and its relatively simple solution — many times before, including with one of her own daughters.