- Horan School: 55 E 120th St, New York, NY 10035
Visiting the Horan school was an incredibly touching and humbling experience, especially as we interacted with children with special needs. Alongside a few classmates, we collaborated on a lesson plan designed to be accessible and engaging for all the students. Our goal was to emphasize the importance of oral health in a way that resonated with each child. To make the lessons more interactive and memorable, we brought in typodonts, distributed goodie bags, and incorporated YouTube videos and songs to reinforce the message of brushing twice a day. Throughout the morning, we visited four classes, spanning from 8 AM to 12 PM, dedicating our time to promoting good oral hygiene practices and ensuring that every child felt included and valued.
2. Hunter’s Point Middle School: 1-50 51st Ave, Queens, NY 11101 
Oral Health and Nutrition – Health Program Planning Assignment (2)
Oral Health and Nutrition – Public Health Presentation
Attending Hunters Point Middle School provided me with a unique perspective, allowing me to step into the shoes of a teacher or professor. In this environment, I interacted with a group of approximately 28 adolescents navigating through various developmental teeth stages or mixed dentition. Many of these students were in the midst of orthodontic treatment, while others seemed hesitant about dental visits, often due to parental influence or fear. This diverse background makes the lesson plan more valuable because now they can relate to the material making it easier for them to pay attention.
The lesson focused on oral health and nutrition, addressing how dietary choices impact dental well-being. We engaged the students with a combination of visual aids, including PowerPoint presentations and YouTube videos, to make the topic more relatable. Interactive and “pop quiz” moments such as Kahoot quizzes added an element of fun and competition, keeping the students actively involved throughout the lesson. As a token of appreciation for their participation, we awarded prizes at the end of the session. Witnessing the students’ enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, many of them even expressed their intention to brush their teeth afterward. This was a great way to openly advocate for great oral health within our Public Health course.
3. Give Kids A Smile with Colgate at New York City College of Technology:
As currently featured on the school website: https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/news/?id=1800.
Teaming up with the American Dental Association, Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures, the Speech Language Pathology department at Queens College, and City Tech’s Vision Care department, the Dental Hygiene Patient Care Clinic at New York City College of Technology helped kids during Children’s Dental Health Awareness Month. Knowing that many children don’t get dental care, we welcomed over 60 kids aged 5-12 for free with their parents’ permission. As mentioned on the website.
During the clinic, we did a bunch of oral health promotion and used our dental hygiene knowledge, with the help of faculty and the new upcoming dental hygiene students, to help keep kids’ teeth healthy: We cleaned their teeth, put sealants on if they needed them, made referrals if necessary, and gave fluoride treatments. My patient was always this smart seven-year-old who understood how important it is to take care of your teeth. He knew so much, it surprised me!
To ensure each visit ended on a high note, we gave every child a little bag of goodies as a thank-you gift. They left with smiles as bright as their futures and knowing a bit more about keeping their teeth healthy.
