Dental hygiene grads get pinning ceremony
Event was held after tumultuous last term due to the coronavirus.
GARDNER » Students who graduated this past August with their Dental Hygiene associate degree were honored on Sept. 18 during an outdoor, socially distant pinning ceremony at Mount Wachu
sett Community College’s Gardner campus.
This honor is particularly special for this group of students who passed the ADEX Clinical Board Licensing Exam after
spending their final semester learning remotely without the opportunity to practice their skills for several months.
“As you know, this year was particularly challenging for our students,” said Cindy Cadoret, Dental Education Program director. “In normal times, they spend the final semester of the program honing their clinical skills in
preparation for this exam. COVID abruptly halted their clinical training and many students did not pick up an instrument until we were able to safely return to the clinic this summer. Faculty worked hard to develop innovative simulated clinical experiences for students to keep their technical and critical thinking skills sharp. Their hard work paid off.”
“Over the past six months I have continually been in awe of the perseverance and achievements of the MWCC community in the face of unprecedented challenges,” said James Vander Hooven, president of MWCC. “The dental hygiene students and faculty are a shining example of that resilience and determination.”
Students receiving their Dental
Hygiene Pins were:
Katelyn Carmody of Shelburn Falls
Kathryn Graveson of Sutton Tori Hatch of Westminster Tori Kirk of Gardner Savannah LaRoche of Athol Maria Marinho-Womer of Leominster
Amy Mabardy of Lancaster Gela Serda of Leominster