UNE dental, medical students honor MLK Jr.’s service legacy by reading to local youth

As programs honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy took place at the University of New England’s Maine campuses on Wednesday, Jan. 21, students in UNEs Colleges of Dental Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine — Maine’s only dental and medical schools — embodied the civil rights leader’s spirit of service and community by reading to youth at three locations in Portland to answer their questions about health care. 

Many of the UNE students said their aim was to alleviate children’s worries about trips to the dentist and doctor, particularly in uncertain, challenging times, and to help them see a clear path to pursuing careers in the health professions if it interested them. 

In Jenna Kerns’ first grade class at Longfellow Elementary School on Stevens Avenue — a short walk from UNE’s Portland Campus for the Health Sciences — a medical student and three dental students read two stories about going to the dentist and doctor — including one about bears.

Kerns said the half-hour reading session and animated Q&A exchange showed her first-grade students that doctors and dentists want to help us. 

“This fits into our wellness lesson that we’re working on right now and our health goals,” Kerns said. “The kids really enjoy read-alouds and you could tell were really connecting and listening. Just hearing stories about how others might have felt the same way can help settle some of their fears.” 

Kristi Scamurra (D.M.D., ’29), said she knew she wanted to be a dentist since she was in middle school when an orthodontist took the time to calm her fears, answer her questions, and make straightening her teeth a positive experience. So, Scamurra wanted to do the same for the children at Longfellow School on Wednesday. 

“She explained everything so well. I just loved her. I could see myself doing the same thing,” Scamurra said of her former practitioner. “I think it'd be pretty cool if we had a similar effect on the students that we talked to today, as well as making it maybe not so intimidating to see doctors and dentists in general.” 

Down the street, practically adjacent to New England’s only dedicated health sciences campus, close to a dozen UNE dental students read to two preschool classes at Growing Learners Child Care at Stevens Square Community Center and, while sitting with the children on the floor, answered their questions about how best to take care of their teeth. 

Both events were organized by UNE’s Service-Learning Office to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of advocacy by promoting literacy, community, and leadership.  

It was the second year UNE’s Service-Learning programs provided student mentors to help in partnership with Portland Public Schools around the MLK Jr. holiday. Other students also completed a read-in at Portland’s Amanda C. Rowe Elementary School a short distance from the Stevens Avenue locations.

“We are so pleased to partner again with the Portland Public Schools to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Our students demonstrated their advocacy, leadership, and commitment to service while sharing their enthusiasm, skills, and connections with local students,” said Trisha Mason, M.A., director of Service-Learning at UNE.  

“We hope by engaging with youth and speaking to them about their future professions, it will make going to the doctor or dentist more accessible and less scary,” she said.