The OAAK held it's annual 2025 Association Meeting on 3/29 and 4/6/25 and has published its minutes to all OAAK members as of 4/13/25. These minutes were emailed directly to each member from [email protected]. If you would like a copy of these minutes and to join in the discussions of the future of the OAAK and Alaska Opticianry please become a member of the OAAK today! You can join by clicking and filling out the information in the Membership section. This and so many more benefits to come as a OAAK member! Join today and invest in you and your profession!

Mark your Calendar for the SECO/NAO Live Virtual CEs coming up SEPTEMBER 27TH and DECEMBER 1ST, 2025. Six hours of ABO and/or NCLE Credits will be presented at both events at no charge!! Stay tuned for further updates and announcements to come!!

Please click on the button below to access the letter discussing the bi-annual license renewal process for licensed Opticians in Alaska and note that online renewal will be available no later than May 30th, 2025!! Mark your calendars and click on the link in "useful links" State of Alaska and access the MY LICENSE portal to renew your license for 2025!! 

Click on the link below to access information on the upcoming Grants offered for the upcoming UOA Leadership conference June 6-7th, 2025!!!

​​uoa_leadership_invite_2025.pdf

On 3/29/25 the OAAK members held it's annual association meeting at the 2025 Annual Education Event in Anchorage, Alaska and the elected OAAK Board Members were sworn in to start their tour of duty from 3/20/25 through the next Annual Education Event in 2026 (date to be determined). The new board will be listed below and over the next weeks in the "Meet The Team" section the pictures and bios will also be updated. Your OAAK current Board is here to serve you and the OAAK and are proud to work towards the betterment of our profession, Opticianry!

President-(Incumbent) Paul Holman (Wasilla)

Vice President-Julie Knighton (Wasilla)

Secretary-Marcia Smith (North Pole)

Treasurer-(Incumbent) Sandi Acquistapace (North Pole)

Board Member-(Incumbent) Samantha Anderson (Fairbanks)

Board Member-(Incumbent) Oscar Villasenor (Soldotna)

Board Member-Alicia Froh (Anchorage)

ATTENTION!!
OAAK 2025 ANNUAL CONVENTION MEMBERS, SPEAKERS AND VENDORS!! If you attended the annual convention you were sent a request from the OAAK to complete a survey. The survey is short and very helpful in planning the future of the OAAK and it's annual conventions. If you have not already taken the survey please do so as soon as possible and if you need the link resent please click the the button below to email the OAAK and ask for the link to be resent. Thank you all for your help and feedback on these surveys as they help us better your experience as members of the OAAK.

​One of our speakers at the 2025 OAAK convention Andrew Bruce; Andrew reached out to me during the convention and generously wanted to provide a Q&A session with additional resources in your advancement journey to become ABO certified and licensed! This is an incredible opportunity and he asked each of you to please provide a day/time that might work best for you personally so he could start to plan the event virtually for you all and set a deadline to reply by today. So far, he has not heard back from anyone and so I discussed with Andrew that everyone's busy schedules we wanted to extend the time to take advantage of this. Please email Andrew directly back no later than this Friday 4/11 if you are interested: [email protected]
A good day and time in April or May that might work for you so he can begin to plan this event for you. If you have any questions or confusion, please feel free to reply to this email and I would be happy to help. I hope you will all take advantage of this rare opportunity and the added benefit of being a OAAK member! 🙂 Have a great day and sending all my best in your journey to success in the amazing profession of Opticianry!

The annual OAAK Association Meeting Part 2 from the first half of the meeting held in person on 3/29/25 will be held virtually on 4/6/25 from 10-11am for all current 2025 OAAK members and a Microsoft Teams invite was sent to reach member. If you are a member and need assistance or have questions please click below to message the OAAK.

Want to make an impact in the optical industry? Transitions, in partnership with its Optical Advancement Board, is now accepting applications for the Optical Advancement Grant educational grant program—designed to support and empower the next generation of opticians and optometrists.

We’re awarding five $1,000 grants to graduating high school seniors or recent grads planning to attend opticianry school in the U.S. Plus, two $5,000 grants are available for current Year 1– Year 3 optometry students at an accredited U.S. school or college.
But that’s not all! As a grant recipient, you'll also have the chance to become a Transitions Change Agent—a part of our exclusive Peer-to-Peer program—and could even gain an invitation* to Transitions Academy in Orlando, Fla. This annual event is one of the biggest in the industry, packed with networking, education, and career-changing opportunities.

Don’t miss out! Apply by April 30, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Ready to take the next step toward your future in optical? Apply now!
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Winners will be notified the week of May 19, 2025.

Join the NAO today at www.nao.org for all the Opticianry benefits from the leader in education and to view the volume 1 newsletter for 2025!!