PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 6, 2025--
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has appointed Laura Smith as the new director of Eyes On Learning, a coalition of state, local, and national organizations dedicated to improving the vision health of Arizona’s children.
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About 1-in-4 school-age children have a vision problem that may affect their ability to learn. Healthy vision is especially vital in early childhood and the early grades, when children develop the literacy skills they need to learn to read and be successful in school.
Partners in Eyes On Learning work together so that Arizona children with vision problems are identified early, through regular vision screenings, so they can get the eye exams and follow-up treatment they need.
Smith’s appointment comes after inaugural director Karen Woodhouse announced her intention to retire later this summer. Woodhouse has led Eyes On Learning since it was established in December 2015.
“Over the last ten years, under Karen’s exceptional leadership, Eyes On Learning has delivered on its mission to improve Arizona’s system of vision screening and referral for children,” said Steve Zabilski, president and CEO of Piper Trust, a founding partner of Eyes On Learning. “There’s more to be done, and Laura has such a distinctive mix of expertise and experience to carry this initiative forward—it’s clear she is driven to ensure that all Arizona children receive regular vision screenings. Piper Trust is so pleased to announce Laura’s appointment in partnership with the Eyes On Learning advisory board.”
Smith previously served as program manager of community education at The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI). At TAPI she developed partnerships and directed initiatives to improve public health outcomes through education and outreach, including training programs that reached 1,500 healthcare professionals, school nurses, and health office staff annually. She also led the Arizona School Immunization Coalition, one of six multi-sector teams from across the country selected to participate in the prestigious National Leadership Academy for the Public's Health (NLAPH) fellowship in 2023-24.
Smith started her career in health as a certified ophthalmic assistant and brings an in-depth understanding of vision screening, eye exams, and treatments to her role with Eyes On Learning.
“Healthy vision is critical for every child’s school success, as well as their social development and overall well-being,” Smith said. “I look forward to collaborating with the Eyes On Learning advisory board and other community partners to improve children’s vision health in Arizona.”
Eyes On Learning has been a driving force behind important advances for children’s vision screening in Arizona. Coalition recommendations contributed to the passage of new legislation that provides procedures and guidelines for all public and charter schools to conduct regular vision screenings for approximately 500,000 children every school year. Eyes On Learning also worked with the Arizona Department of Health Services to reimagine the vision screener certification process and is conducting a statewide pilot of a new, web-based vision screening program that promises to further streamline children’s vision screening in Arizona and increase access to follow-up vision care.
“Eyes On Learning was instrumental in securing significant philanthropic investments and federal funding for the successful implementation of the new vision screening policy,” said Roy Pringle, chief operating officer at Vitalyst Health Foundation, who serves on Eyes On Learning’s advisory board. “We have a strong, purposeful, productive coalition, and I’m confident that Laura is the right leader to keep the momentum going.”
About Eyes On Learning
Eyes On Learning is dedicated to ensuring that children with vision problems are identified early and receive an eye exam and follow-up treatment to achieve better vision health. The Eyes On Learning Vision Coalition is comprised of state/local and national organizations that share a commitment to vision health and learning success for all Arizona children. Learn more at eyesonlearning.org | X | Facebook | LinkedIn.
About Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $749 million in local nonprofits and programs. Piper Trust grantmaking areas are healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations. For more information, visit pipertrust.org | X | Facebook | LinkedIn.
Laura Smith, Director of Eyes On Learning, Arizona
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
