NORTH PLATTE – Eight students in North Platte Community College’s Dental Assisting program got some hands-on experience as well as providing an invaluable service to underprivileged individuals when they participated in Nebraska’s Tri-City Mission of Mercy in Grand Island on June 3-4.

NPCC Dental Assisting Instructor Lauri Rickley and lab assistant Lori Webster took students Katie Thompson of Curtis, Michelle King of Fleming, Colo., Mary Slack of Gothenburg, Whitney Brown, Tera Davis, Megan Fischer and Amanda Johnson, all of North Platte, and Alisha Lockard of Sutherland to the event.

“It was amazing!” Rickley said. “Such an awesome way to pay it forward!”

“The ladies were super and we got several compliments and positive comments from the dentists around the state. One even asked when the students were eligible for hire!” Rickley added.

Rickley said that Davis, Fischer, Johnson and King got a great deal of assisting time in, mostly in oral surgery.

“Even when I wasn’t assisting in surgery, it was important to me that I was smiling all the time. Even though I was exhausted, I wanted the people coming in to know how happy I was to help them and to be a part of MoM,” Fischer said. “It made me feel good to see that when people came in they were not smiling, but when they left they had huge smiles on their faces and were very happy. That’s the part that was the most rewarding for me.”

“Overall, this was one of the best experiences of my life and I plan to go again,” Fischer added. “I learned that I am lucky to have what I have no matter how big or how small – never take anything for granted!”

The objective of the Nebraska Mission of Mercy project is not only to provide free dental care and education to low-income residents, but also to develop a continuing project that will reach the underserved population for years to come and improve the overall dental health and general health of all Nebraskans.