WCC recognized the 24 members of its Dental Assisting class of 2014 in a pinning ceremony recently. This dental assisting class was notable for being the first in the college’s history to have all students who started the program finish it together.
The annual service denotes the end of the students’ academic journey and welcomes them into the dental profession.It includes formal presentation of pins to each graduate by the program’s faculty and introduction of the graduates to the audience as dental assistants.
In commenting on how the graduates had met the challenges of the program, Dental Assisting Program Coordinator Susan Bowen noted how it had been an “unusual year” in many ways, from the snows that wreaked havoc on the schedule to the number of deaths that had impacted the class’ members. Still, the students stuck it out and all finished. “I believe this unusual year has reinforced who you are,” she said.
This year’s graduates are
Abbie Dunn of Benson;
Lyndsay Carter and Yesenia Garnica of Beulaville;
Hannah Mitchell of Four Oaks;
Brittany Denton of Fremont;
Kimberly Heath, Brittani Purdie, Elizabeth Smith, Britany Sutton, and Ashtyn Thong of Goldsboro;
Brittanie Atkins of Kenly;
Taylor Hardy, Jaime Perry, and Icela Vazquez of Kenly;
Miranda Aycock of Pikeville;
Sherry Short of Pink Hill;
Jasmeane Taylor of Raleigh;
Haley Gurganus of Rocky Mount;
Kaye Hollingsworth of Roseboro;
Javier Arellano and Cassandra Henderson of Smithfield;
Destiny Hudson of Turkey;
Hanna Bradley of Wendell; and
Kirstie Wood of Wilson.
Three students were honored for outstanding performance. Ms. Purdie accepted the Clinical Achievement Award for the highest average during clinic rotations in dental offices. Ms. Purdie and Ms. Short shared the Academic Achievement Award for the highest grade point average (GPA) in their dental courses, both finishing with a 4.0 GPA. Hollingsworth earned the Expanded Functions Achievement Award. She completed 152 of these “extra” functions that only a dental assistant II can perform, more than doubling the 68 that are required during the course of the program.
Ms. Short and Ms. Dunn were also recognized for having been named to “Who’s Who at Wayne Community College 2014.” It was noted that Denton, Dunn, Hardy, Hollingsworth and Wood had served as officers in the Dental Assisting Student Association and Heath and Sutton were Student Government Association representatives.
The Dental Assisting Student Association (DASA) presented a class gift of $300, earned through several fundraising events, to the Foundation of Wayne Community College to be used for scholarships. During the year, the organization had also contributed to a college-wide project to assist the American Red Cross’ efforts in the Philippines and donated cornhole boards to the auction held during the Foundation’s Scholarship Invitational.
The class also presented a framed group portrait of itself to be hung in the WCC Dental Department in commemoration of its 100 percent graduation rate.
“We have set the bar high for next year’s dental assisting class,” said Ms. Taylor, the DASA president. “Yes, we are awesome!”
Graduates who pass the Dental Assisting National Board examination can work as certified dental assistants.
Wayne Community College’s Dental Assisting Program is a limited-admission, three-semester diploma program. It is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
Wayne Community College is a public, two-year college located in Goldsboro with an open-door admission policy. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, it serves 14,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 100 college credit programs.
