GSDM Gets a “Thumbs Up” From Local Children
The 8th annual Orchard Gardens field trip to GSDM took place on May 16. Around 40 first and second grade children made the trip from the nearby Orchard Gardens K-8 School for a day filled with educational and fun activities.
“This day is a lot of fun and a good way for the dental students to inspire a young child to pursue a higher education and a maybe even a career in dentistry,” said organizer and CHP Oral Health Promotion Director Kathy Lituri.
The highlight of this year’s field trip was a new activity introduced to the program where the children took an alginate impression of their thumb and then used dental stone to create a model. Volunteer GSDM students helped mix the alginate and stone, while explaining to the children the more common dental uses for the materials.
During this activity the Simulation Learning Center (SLC) was filled with the sounds of laughter and a few “ewws” when the children had to stick their thumbs into the gooey mixture.
Said one child, “I am having soooo much fun today!”
After the projects in the SLC were completed the children moved on to lunch where Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter was there to welcome them. He said, “I was pleased to have an opportunity to meet with the students from Orchard Gardens. They were very enthusiastic about the day’s activities and I was thrilled to see so many of our GSDM students getting involved in this day of meaningful interaction with the children of our local community. I hope to see some of these children return to GSDM in the future as dentals students.”
Photos are available on flickr and facebook.