~NODHA Presidential Message~
To all members and non-members of NODHA,
Hello to everyone. Thank you for supporting YOUR organization! Please remember: when you support NODHA, you help protect and advance your profession. This is what keeps dental hygiene an ever-expanding, rewarding, and desirable career path.
Mark your calendars: March 9 & 10 2012, NODHA will be hosting LDHA’s annual session! It will be held in the ballroom of the Doubletree hotel in Downtown New Orleans close to the French Quarter and Harrah’s Casino. We have some fabulous speakers coming. There will be a silent auctions, door prizes, and a lot of fun. It will be a great event!
Please visit out CONTINUING EDUCATION PAGE for those updates!
I would like to thank all of our officers who have worked so hard this past year and let you know how excited I am about the year ahead! I am looking forward to serving you as president and I am thrilled to be welcoming two new board members as well.
Jill Peres is our new secretary. Jill and I are seeking to expand our database of contacts so that we can reach more hygienists in the GNO area. If we do not have your email address, please send it to me or her. We truly want this organization to work for you and be a great way to network. There is definitely strength in numbers.
Leslie Lagrange, our new vice president and membership chair, will be in contact with ADHA membership division to facilitate the process of signing up new members. We are hoping to expand our membership numbers. In addition, we will be raffling two ADHA memberships away this year at two different CE courses.
Jennifer Hew, our social chair/student liaison, hosts two SADHA/NODHA socials for the second year LSU dental hygiene students each year. One of which is in the fall to welcome them and another is in the spring before graduation. We feel it’s very important to maintain contact with the students in order to build the membership, and the students really enjoy and appreciate the socials.
One very important person to the organization is Shauntelle Sliman, our treasurer. She keeps the checks and balances. Each component of the state is assessed a monetary amount each year to pay expenses such as our lobbyist Jane Burgin. This money is also used for the executive secretary, Debbi Mitchell, who is responsible for all correspondence throughout the state. Your dues are working hard and Shauntelle is keeping up with them.
Lynn Scarengos, a past president and our current CE coordinator continues to do an outstanding job of scheduling the CPR class and the CE’s, all of which are listed on the web. We strive to have a variety of speakers, and rotate restaurants. We welcome ideas and suggestions for topics, information, and locations. We will work to handle the menu choices, and are open to new ideas. At each meeting a suggestion sheet is available. Attending NODHA CE courses is the best way to support YOUR organization and assemble with your colleagues.
Connie Comiskey, our fundraiser chair, has helped secure a new CE venue: Mandina’s! I am hoping to work with Connie this year on our next fundraiser. Connie has chaired our charity golf tournament in the past raising $1,500 for charity.
Lots of praise to Michie Bissell! She is our past president, who collaborated with the past president of the New Orleans Dental Association about having a joint meeting/CE with the dentists. This will occur in January 2011. She, along with Cora Oufnac, will be working as an “Advisory Board” to this year’s board. Cora is hoping to take photos at some CE’s and NODHA events which we can post to the website and Facebook page. We have been doing our best to keep these current with informative links and such.
Also, the board will continue to offer postings of job opportunities via email blast. You can email me carrie_daigle@yahoo.com.
In closing, I’d like to welcome everyone to the 2011-2012 year, especially our new members and graduates. This is your organization so let us hear from you!
Respectively summitted, Carrie E. Daigle, R.D.H., B.S.
