Mary Garnes (Jenkins) Memorial Scholarship

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The Oregon Dental Assistants Association is proud to announce scholarships available due to the kind contribution and generosity of the Mary Jenkins Garnes family.  

During her career with the Oregon Dental Assistants Association and American Dental Assistants, Mary and colleagues lobbied for recognition of enhanced professional skills for dental assistants developed through training and continuing education.  For a more complete description of her advocacy at the state and national level, you can find information on our ODAA 2022 issue of our Newsbulletin within our Website, page 10.

Purpose

The Mary Garnes (Jenkins) Memorial Scholarship is being established in memory of Mary Garnes (Jenkins). This scholarship honors Mary and her commitment to the American Dental Assistants Association and the Oregon Dental Assisting Association.

Mary was committed to her dental assisting career for over 40 years. Mary continued her advocacy at the state and national level, promoting dental assisting education through her work with the Oregon Legislature, ADA, and Academy of General Dentistry and with the US Department of Health and Human Services.

This scholarship will be awarded to a student(s) who is(are) currently enrolled in a dental assisting program and is in “good standing” or has been accepted into a dental assisting program approved by the Mary Garnes (Jenkins) Oregon Dental Assistants Association, Special Memorial Scholarship Committee appointed by ODAA President Marshall.

Application Criteria

To be considered for the Mary Garnes (Jenkins) Memorial Scholarship, applicants must:

• Be a high school graduate or hold a GED Certificate.
• Be a student member of the ADAA/ODAA enrolled in a Dental Assisting program.
• Have completed the first term of the Dental Assisting program at the time of application.
• Participate in class activities, student organization(s), and local/state dental assisting organizations, where available.
• Have demonstrated leadership skills in activities including, but not limited to, religious, volunteering or those that are dental related.
• Complete the scholarship application.
• Complete an in-person or zoom interview with the ODAA Special Memorial Scholarship Committee members.

Applicant Submissions

Applicants must submit the following materials:

1. Letter of Purpose and Intent
2. Completed and signed application and scholarship agreement
3. One letter of recommendation from educator, employer, colleague, etc.
4. Dental Office observation confirmation letter with dentist (or instructor) signature (=>6hours)

All application materials must be submitted in one email (either as one PDF attachment or as multiple attachments to one email). The application, Letter of Purpose and Intent and letters of recommendation must be typed. Handwritten materials will not be accepted other than the signature if you are unable to sign electronically. Incomplete applications (missing one or more of the application items) will not be considered. All scholarship materials must be submitted by February 21, 2023 to mgrammabuns@aol.com with the subject line titled, Mary Garnes Jenkins Memorial Scholarship.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION