Dental Hygiene Students Earn Maui Scholarships

(From left): MCDS scholarship chair Dr. Peter Fay, Mrs. Mariye Lau for Dr. Jonathan Lau scholarship co-chair, UHMC DH students Andrea Hetherington and Kerilyn Dofa, Tokunaga Scholarship donor Mrs. Sara Jean Tokunaga, and UHMC DH students Maricel Paet and Mary Kahaialii. Photo courtesy of University of Hawai'i Maui College.

By Wendy Osher

Four Maui students are the recipients of scholarships established to promote and support careers in dental hygiene.

The students are all graduates of the University of Hawaii Maui College, and are enrolled in their first year of the college’s dental hygiene program.  One of the criteria of the selection was finding students who intend to live and work on Maui upon graduation.

Mary Kahaialii and Andrea Hetherington were awarded the Maui County Dental Society scholarships; and Kerilyn Dofa and Maricel Paet were awarded the Donald & Alice Tokunaga scholarships.

The $500 scholarships, issued by the Maui County Dental Society and Mrs. Sara Jean Tokunaga, were issued during a scholarship reception held at UHMC last month.

Scholarship recipient, Andrea Hetherington, thanked the Dental Society for funding saying, “The scholarship awarded to me has helped with financial obligations that have allowed me to focus my time on my studies. I will be forever grateful.”

Fellow scholarship recipient, Marciel Paet added, “I am honored to be one of the recipients of the 2011 Donald & Alice Tokunaga Scholarship. It was a great help, which fulfilled some of the expenses that the Dental Hygiene program demands. ”

The Maui County Dental Society is a professional association of dentists committed to the enhancement of the oral health education and the dental welfare of the public. The MCDS is a component of the Hawaii Dental Association and the American Dental Association and is dedicated to ongoing continuing education.

Tokunaga offered the other scholarship as a dedicated community member and UHMC dental programs supporter. She is committed to Hawaii non-profit organizations, is a former member of the UHMC Chancellor’s Advisory Council, and is presently the President of the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation board.