D’Angelo Gonzalez held a steady hand and a broad smile as he snapped cell phone photos of his fiancé during the 2015 Georgia Perimeter College Dental Hygiene Pinning and Awards Ceremony.

Meredith Perez and 22 other students walked across the Dunwoody Campus auditorium stage on May 7 to receive their pins amidst a backdrop of thunderous applause from well-wishers.

“Words can’t describe how happy I am for her,” Gonzalez said. “She literally put 1,000 percent effort to accomplish this.”

In fact, Perez passed the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) with a perfect score. “I love beautiful smiles; that’s the first thing I see on people,” Perez says of her decision to pursue a career in dental hygiene.

Strong Record of Success

For a number of years, every single Georgia Perimeter dental hygiene student has passed the NBDHE with a high enough score on their initial try.

“The department has had nine consecutive years of 100 percent pass rate on the first attempt of their national board exam,” says Cherie Rainwater, dental hygiene department chair. In addition, this year’s cohort took the Central Regional Dental Testing Service Examination with a 100 percent pass rate.

Looking Back, Moving Forward with Competence

Retired dental hygiene department chair Ronda Karelitz returned for this year’s pinning and awards ceremony, which marked the last under the Georgia Perimeter banner, due to the college’s pending consolidation with Georgia State University.

Karelitz has such confidence in the students moving through Georgia Perimeter’s program that she allowed them to clean her teeth earlier this year. She believes their success is directly linked to faculty competence. “If you don’t have good clay, you’re not going to make a good statue,” she said.

Jeanette Clarida agrees, while noting she was part of the first class of Georgia Perimeter dental hygiene students who began their studies in 1975, when the school was known as DeKalb Community College. The program started at what’s now recognized as DeKalb North Technical High School, before moving to its Georgia Perimeter-Dunwoody home when the campus was built a few years later.

Clarida led pinning candidates in the Dental Hygiene Oath and takes pride in the fact that she’s still working—right now, at the DeKalb Health Department. “I graduated in 1979 and I have been working almost every day since,” she said.

A Commitment to Community and Achievement

Another hallmark of the Georgia Perimeter dental hygiene program is its commitment to providing free and low-cost dental services to underserved communities.

“You’ve accomplished so much while you were here that the communities you served are in a better place,” said Casey Morris, second-year clinic coordinator.

Jennie Fleming graduated from Georgia Perimeter’s dental hygiene program in 1984, followed by her daughter three years later. Fleming also designed the third and current dental hygiene pin and notes that it’s bittersweet that things soon will change with consolidation. Yet, she trusts the program will only get stronger.

Dr. Sheila Garland, Georgia Perimeter’s dean of health sciences, has no doubt. “The role of GPC is to produce distinctive graduates—and as I look around this room, we have succeeded.”

Below is a listing of the 2015 Dental Hygiene awards and scholarships for graduating and continuing students:

Outstanding Dental Hygiene Student

Salima Merchant

Hinman Scholars

Randi Borja

Eun Choi

Jin Kwoun

Dental Hygiene State Board Assistance Scholarship

Jin Kwoun

Wilmer Eames Award

Morgan Whitsitt

Sigma Phi Alpha Scholarship

Henry Delsania

Sigma Phi Alpha Inductees

Randi Borja

Jin Kwoun

Seattle Study Club Scholarship

Thu Pham

Colin Richman Scholarship

Victoria Valdez

Atlanta Dental Hygiene Society Scholarship

Hannah McCance

Hiba Kauser

Colgate Star Award

Salima Merchant

Emile Fischer Scholarship

Henry Delsania

Sheryl Wentworth Faculty Scholarship

Jin Kwoun

Golden Scaler Award

Eun Choi