Outstanding CTE Program

Congratulations to the West-MEC Dental team: Dottie Wittman, Julie Ehrman, Tammy Bachelder, Tracey Oium and Julie Rodriguez. The core of any high-quality CTE program is the CTE Delivery Model and the Dental Assistant program is a national exemplar! The team produces the next generation of dental professionals through engaging instruction that is aligned to industry standards; embeds WBL experiences; assessments that provide objective information; and personalized for individual students. Over 90% of students passed their industry certification and the State Technical Assessment.

In addition, community involvement is critical to the student experience. The program provides opportunities for students to give back to the community while continuing to learn dental and professional skills. By partnering with organizations such as TeamSmiles, and AZ Moms, the dental students are educating children and adults about dental health while working alongside professionals to apply learned technical skills.

The dental program provides a robust externship. Students demonstrate initiative by locating and applying to the dental office of their choice, while the dental team continues teaching them workplace skills. Impressively, 100% of students get placed, and 100% of students that want to continue the career pathway are hired upon completion.

Dental assistant instructors created recordings of demonstrations of the different technical skills needed to be a successful dental assistant. Students can access these demonstrations when required for learning, practicing, and reviewing. The instructors created a catalog of demonstrations for students to review, practice, and test with.

The program celebrates a strong CTSO with multiple HOSA Chapters. In fact, the team has just returned from representing AZ with a strong student team! Thank you, Dental Program, for setting the bar for CTE in AZ!