From OWENS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
When Beth Pycraft and her classmates arrived at Owens Community College in the 1970s, the boundaries of campus didn’t extend past Oregon Road and Health Technologies Hall was a brand new, state-of-the-art building.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation as the first class from the Dental Hygiene program, 10 alumni came back to campus and toured parts of the Healthcare Education Center, including the Dental Hygiene lab, in June.
Pycraft, who now lives in northeast Ohio, said campus was nearly unrecognizable with the updates and changes the college has made.
“We didn’t even know where we were on campus,” Pycraft said.
Other alumni came from as far away as Cincinnati, while others still live in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Pycraft said class historian Laura Thomas did a great job of tracking down the majority of their classmates. Alumni who visited included Ellen Baatz Moeller, Laura Imhoff Thomas, Susan Clements Weaver, Joan Harpen Hohenberger, Jan Hilton Strong, Jill Morse, Beth Sayler Pycraft, Terrie Schwartz Pope, Denise Wulff Potts, and Mary Kay Ziegler Whitner.
The alumni were impressed by the new dental hygiene lab and the modern equipment the current students use in their education. In fact, Pycraft and her classmates learned on equipment that was modern for its time in the mid-1970s as well.
“We had brand new equipment when we were there, too. The hardest thing for us, and it will be for them too, they’re going to go out into the workforce and probably have older stuff,” Pycraft said. “When I first got out in 1976 … it was a nightmare. I was missing my equipment (at Owens). Oh, and chairs, the old chairs, you had to physically like lean a patient back. They weren’t automatic. Oh my gosh, it was hard on your back.”
Dental hygiene has become a family business for Pycraft. Her sister graduated from Owens in 1987, and her two daughters also graduated as dental hygienists, with one now a dentist. So in addition to her 46 years working in dental hygiene, Pycraft has seen plenty of clinics.
“These students have some wonderful equipment,” Pycraft said. “It’s nice to see the sterilization area and all these things.”
Teresa Kania, chair of the Dental Hygiene Department at Owens, said it was an honor to welcome the alumni back on campus.
“Hearing their stories and learning about their experiences as students provided a unique perspective on how the Dental Hygiene program and the college have evolved over the years,” Kania said. “It was inspiring to see the pride they still have in the program and their excitement about the opportunities available to today’s students. Their visit served as a meaningful reminder of the lasting impact of the education and experiences they received at Owens.”
Pycraft said a return trip to Owens to see more of the campus isn’t out of the question for the group.
“I think so, at least for some of us,” she said. “I know my sister and I would like to come back and have a little more of a tour. I would like to see if I could recognize anything.”
