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Dental Hygiene A.S. graduate Amber Rozier is pinned by PSC Dental Hygiene Professor Barbara Varnadore during the 2026 Spring Pinning Ceremony.
Welcome and congratulatory remarks from Dental Hygiene Instructor Donna Del Rosario, who serves as faculty advisor to the PSC chapter of the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association (SADHA); Health Sciences Assistant Dean Mitzie Sowell, Ph.D.; and PSC District Board of Trustees Chair Gordon Sprague preceded the opening address from SADHA President Sarah Reed, a U.S. Navy service member graduating from the program.
“Personally, I can say with confidence that dental hygiene school was about 10 times harder than I expected,” said Reed. “Every single person sitting here today has worked incredibly hard to be here, and I can honestly say I could not be prouder of each and every one of us. We all took different paths, but we made it.”
Reed is one of 11 active-duty military service members graduating from the program this spring, and in her warm and lighthearted address, she joked that they would “soon be heading back to the fleet to fight the biggest enemy of all … periodontal disease.”
PSC’s is one of only three dental hygiene programs in the U.S. that educates active duty military, and, for the first time, service members from the U.S. Coast Guard are graduates of the program. Cmdr. Joel Fulkerson, chief of operational medicine, and Capt. Carol Wong, chief of operational medicine in the dental program, were in attendance to congratulate Coast Guardsmen Justice Badgley and Melinda Leiva.
“The Coast Guard’s partnership with Pensacola State College is a worthwhile endeavor, and this is a proud moment for two of our enlisted service members to graduate from such a recognized program,” said Wong.
Special recognition was given to Jewell Pearcey, who received the Colgate Star Award, and to Esther Looney, who received the Golden Scaler Award.
Hu-Friedy, a leading manufacturer of dental instruments, has sponsored the Golden Scaler Award for more than 40 years to recognize and celebrate the best in practice among graduating dental hygiene students who demonstrate exceptional skill, talent and commitment to the profession. Also recognized were other nominees for the award: Diamond Diggs, Megan Dunne, Melinda Leiva and Jordan Spitsbergen.
Others from this graduating cohort who were previously honored with awards for student excellence include Leadership Award recipient Sarah Reed, Program Scholar Award recipient Jordan Spitsbergen, Scholastic Achievement Award recipients Maggie Bankston and Jordan Spitsbergen, Service Award recipient Juliana Chesser and Outstanding Volunteer Award recipient Melinda Leiva.
Additionally, the PSC chapter of the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association (SADHA) won PSC’s 2026 Student Organization of the Year Award. The objectives of the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association is to cultivate, promote, and sustain the art and science of dental hygiene, to represent and safeguard the common interest of the members of the dental hygiene profession, and to contribute toward improvement of the oral health of the public.
In her remarks, Reed made sure that the program’s faculty was recognized, as well, saying to them, “I believe we had one of the most well-rounded groups of clinical instructors, and you have prepared us well for our careers. For that, we are truly thankful, and we will miss you.”
The students’ admiration and respect for the program’s faculty did not go unnoticed by Sprague, who said, “I will long remember how much you applauded your staff when they were introduced today. That’s unusual and special.”
“You will be given an instrument (at commencement) on Wednesday. You cannot sell it. You cannot give it to someone else, and no one can take it from you,” he added. “You are entering a profession where you will never have problems finding a job.”
Separate from graduation exercises where all students celebrate academic completion, pinning ceremonies mark the transition from student to professional and serve as a symbolic initiation into the healthcare field.