Contact Us • Become a Member • Search
PROGRAMS – ADVOCACY – Dental champions
2005 Class of Dental Champions
Cheryl Baldwin,
R.N
A native Colorado resident, Cheryl Baldwin, R.N., currently works
in Garden City, Kansas, for Kansas Children’s Service League-Head
Start as a Health Specialist.
Cheryl has worked in the nursing field
for almost 20 years with experience in office and industrial
nursing. She now spends most
of her time working with children and families.
She and her husband Lee have two beautiful daughters, Tara and
Tana. Other than working, she divides her free time between writing
poems and cleaning.  Shannon Cotsoradis
Shannon Cotsoradis serves as the Associate Director and Chief
Operating Officer at Kansas Action for Children and the Voices
for Children
Foundation. Shannon holds a Master’s Degree in Child Development
from Sarah Lawrence College and a Master’s Degree in Public
Administration from the University of Kansas. Shannon’s interest
in oral health stems from her professional experience in the area
of child and adolescent health, and from her commitment to the
well-being of Kansas children and their families. In addition to
her professional involvement on behalf of Kansas children, Shannon
is a devoted community volunteer. Shannon is an active member of
the Junior League of Topeka, and also volunteers her time to benefit
the Capper Foundation.
 Janette Delinger, RDH
Janette Delinger has been a practicing clinical dental hygienist
for the past 22 years. In 1983 she graduated from Wichita State
University with her Associates and went on to receive a Bachelor’s
in 1984. During the 5 years her husband served in the Army, Janette
was able to gain a wide variety of experience. She and her husband
have been married 21 years and have two children, a son and a daughter.
For the past 16 years she and her family have lived in Lansing,
Kansas. She also is active as an Executive Council member for the
Kansas Dental Hygienists’ Association. Through the Council
she has been able to deal directly with legislators to pass bills
like the HB2161- the “Access to Care” bill, which,
she attests, was the highlight of her year as President.
Alongside
the Hygienists’ Council, Janette has also participated
in the first three Kansas Mission of Mercy (KMOM) events, through
which she served as co-chair for Garden City and the hygiene coordinator
in Kansas City. She is still active in KMOM events, and looks forward
to the next, in Wichita. Currently, she is pursuing her graduate
degree through the dental hygiene program at the University of
Missouri-Kansas City.
 Doug Farmer
Doug Farmer was born and raised in San Jose, California. In 1994
he graduated from the University of California at Davis with a
BA in Political Science. In
1996, he received his MPA from James Madison University in Harrisonburgh, Virginia.
In
June of 1996, he began as an Analyst with the Kansas Division of
the Budget. In that role, Farmer analyzed the budget submissions
of public safety and economic
development agencies, and made funding and policy recommendations for the Governor
and for his annual budget.
In 1999, Farmer joined the Kansas Department on Aging as the Commissioner of
Finance. In that position, he was responsible for submission of the agency’s
annual $400 million budget. In, 2000 he became the Assistant Secretary of Aging
and, in addition to budgetary responsibilities, became responsible for the Human
Resources Department and served as the agency’s Public Information Officer.
In October of 2003 Farmer joined the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
as the Assistant Secretary. In this position, he serves as a chief operations
officer, providing management support for matters of budget, personnel, process,
and function.
Additionally, he develops strategy for legislative matters, governmental affairs,
and matters of policy. Mark A. Herzog D.D.S., P.A
Mark received his Undergraduate degree in 1982 from Kansas-State
University. He went on to receive his Doctor of Dental Surgery
from the University of Missouri-Kansas
City in 1986. Since then he has maintained a solo-practice in Ellsworth, Kansas,
and has been an active member of the American Dental Society, Kansas Dental Society,
and the Academy of Gentle Dentistry.
Kathryn D. Hunt RDH
Kathryn D. Hunt, RDH, has been engaged in the practice of Dental
Hygiene in private dental offices in Kansas and Colorado for
25 years. The daughter of a career
Navy man, she lived throughout the country until her father’s retirement.
After graduating Manhattan High School, she spent her first 2 years of college
focused on Early Childhood education. Kathy went on to receive her degree in
Dental Hygiene from Johnson County Community College.
She is married and has
just survived graduating both of her boys within 7 hours of each other. Cody
is part of the Wamego High School Class of 2005 and is planning
to attend UTI in Houston while Kyle has completed his education at the University
of Kansas in Aerospace Engineering and will be working with Cessna in Wichita.
Kathy has been very active with school, Boy Scouts, and church activities.
She had the privilege of hosting students from Japan, Germany,
and Denmark. She has
been working in a private dental office in Wamego, Kansas since 1990 and is
currently developing a school-based preventative dental program.
 Jarrod Jones, DDS
Jarrod grew up in LaCrosse, Kansas, a rural community in western
Kansas. He attended Kansas State University receiving a B.S.
in Agriculture. Upon completion
of his
undergraduate degree, he attended the University of Texas – Dental Branch
in Houston, Texas. Jarrod received his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 2003. After
receiving his degree, he returned to Hays, Kansas and joined the practice of
Mark H. Ruliffson. In December, 2004, Jarrod purchased the practice of Dr.
Ruliffson.
Jarrod currently resides in Hays with his wife, Stacey.
Dawn McGlasson
Don’t blame Dawn McGlasson for taking the path to dental
hygiene education and prevention; it’s in her roots.
McGlasson,
the Deputy Director of the Office of Oral Health for the state
of Kansas, comes from a family of oral health practitioners. Her
father enjoyed
a long career as a dentist, a brother practices orthodontics, and a sister
works as a hygienist. Now a new generation is coming on board with a nephew
in dental
school and a niece that is a hygienist working on her doctorate.
As the only
dental professional representing Kansas state government, McGlasson
preaches the benefits of prevention during her travels and collaborations around
the state with schools, local health departments, local communities and government
agencies at the local, county and state levels. With more than 20 years experience
as a practicing hygienist, adjunct college instructor and public health educator,
McGlasson has seen the good and the bad in the mouths of children and adults.
She
has helped her agency; the Kansas Department of Health and Environment,
secure grant funds to provide statewide oral health trainings and promotions
that include
public health personnel, Registered Dental Hygienists, school nurses and care
child providers. McGlasson helped write and implement a grant for $75,000 for
the first Open Mouth Survey of 3rd Graders to provide baseline assessment to
determine the oral health status and treatment needs of Kansas’ children.
Another grant of $195,000 will pilot a school-based dental sealant program
over a three-year period in the Emporia area. It will incorporate cleanings,
fluoride
varnish, and dental identification of the children, oral health instruction,
and other preventive procedures. The sealant program addresses access to dental
care issues such as geographical location, cost, and transportation problems.
Additionally, the grant provided some funding for oral health commercials.
Her latest innovation for pediatric prevention was the training
of school nurses with a non-invasive laser fluorescent dental device
(DIAGNOdent) for school-age
screenings. This training was so successful that the United Methodist Health
Ministry Fund provided a $200,000 grant for training public health nurses
to help increase screenings across the state. This training resulted
in an estimated
6,000 Kansas children receiving an oral health screening in 2004.
Whether it’s stumping for oral health, building partnerships or implementing
innovative prevention programs across Kansas, Dawn McGlasson is the standard
by which all teeth in Kansas shine. M. Sean McReynolds, D.D.S
As a practicing dentist for the last fifteen years in the state
of Kansas, Sean has seen various degrees of emphasis placed on
oral health by the healthcare,
political, and educational communities, such as the latest move toward fluoridation.
He has also seen similar emphasis on care when medical professionals strongly
encourage their cardiac patients to improve oral health as an adjunctive means
of improving their heart condition. However, this does not take away from what
he has recognized as an overwhelming need that lower socio-economic level children
have when it comes to oral healthcare. That need, he believes, is not only
education
to the families, but also access to quality diagnostic and restorative providers
through a system that encourages help for these children.
Reynolds has participated
in three of the Kansas Mission of Mercy projects, and has enjoyed
each event as a unique and rewarding way to improve the oral
health
of Kansas.
 Kevin J. Robertson, MPA, CAE
Kevin has been the executive director of the Kansas Dental Association
since November 1997. Prior to his employment with KDA, Kevin
had been an account
executive with Barbee & Associates in Topeka for 10 years- a company that
provided both association and lobbying services.
Born and raised in Omaha,
Nebraska, where he was an Eagle Scout, Kevin found
his way to Kansas and earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from
the University of Kansas. He is a past president of the Kansas
Society of Association
Executives and was the Society’s 2003 Outstanding Executive of the Year.
Kevin has participated in the Kansas Chamber of Commerce Leadership Kansas
program, is a founding member and current Vice President of Oral Health Kansas,
is current
Chairman of the Topeka CVB Board of Directors, Chairman of the Faith Early
Childhood Center, and also serves as an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 10
in Topeka.
 David C. Sanford
David was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, where he attended United Epworth
Methodist Church. After graduating from East High School, David attended
the University of Kansas. In 1973, he married Debbie Mattson at College Hill
United Methodist Church. They have two children: a son, Chad and a daughter,
Emily. They are also proud grand-parents of a 1 year-old grand-daughter,
Anna.
David has experience in a variety of areas, spending five years
with the United Way, and a total of 25 years in medical manufacturing
management.
In June of
2004 he began work for GraceMed Health Clinics.  Teresa R. Schwab, LMSW
Teresa received a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the
University of Kansas in May 2000. Since then, she has dedicated
her career to advocacy
and public policy in the not-for-profit sector, starting out in the child welfare
arena.
In October 2003, Teresa came to Oral Health Kansas as the first
Executive Director of the organization.
She and her husband, Brad,
served in the United States Peace Corps from 1995-1997 in the South
Pacific country of the Solomon Islands.
They have two sons, Louden
and Logan.
Rebecca Scott
Rebecca Scott's involvement with oral health began with her work
as the Program Coordinator for the Cowley County Tiny Teeth grant.
Rebecca is continuing her
work in oral health with an expansion of her county-wide program to include
all Tiny-K programs in the state.
Rebecca enjoys facilitation and has worked with many small communities and
non-profit organizations. She is part of a network of Master Facilitators created
by a training program through the Kansas Health Foundation.
Rebecca earned
her Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University and a Master
of Arts from Upper Iowa University, Des Moines, Iowa. She has
experience working in industrial supervision with General Mills in California
and Iowa. She has also worked for community colleges in Iowa and Kansas.
Rebecca is a professional grant writer with extensive knowledge
of grant researching, writing, and administration.
 Brenda Sharpe
Brenda Sharpe is the first President and CEO of The REACH Healthcare
Foundation, a foundation formed in 2003 from the sale of Health
Midwest. With approximately
$100 million in assets, the foundation’s purpose is to improve the
overall health of individuals and communities, with an emphasis on the medically
indigent
and underserved populations in Wyandotte, Johnson and Allen Counties of Kansas.
As President and CEO of REACH, her primary responsibility is to make the
foundation fully operational through extensive Board development, development
of the foundation’s
vision and mission, and implementation of that mission as it relates to both
the investment of foundation assets and community investments in the form
of grants.
Brenda is the former President and CEO of Sunflower House, a child
advocacy center that serves Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas. During
her tenure
at Sunflower House, the organization successfully completed a $4.25 million
capital campaign that resulted in the organization’s state-of-the-art
facility in Shawnee. The results of Brenda’s commitment for abused
children included dramatically improved programs and expanded services to
our communities’ most
vulnerable citizens. Brenda has been working in the victim’s service
field since 1990. She has worked in a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis
center, substance abuse
prevention center, and from 1994 to 2004, was the President and CEO of
Sunflower House, a child advocacy center. She was the 1997 recipient
of the “Young
Professional of the Year” award from the College of Human Ecology
at Kansas State University and was awarded the “Commitment to Children’s
Service Award” by Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall in 1997.
In 2002, General Stovall named Sunflower House the state’s “Outstanding
Victim’s Rights Organization” for their commitment to crime
victims, and the Governor’s Conference for the Prevention of Child
Abuse and Neglect acknowledged Sunflower House for its Exemplary and Distinguished
Service to
Children and Families. In 2003, Brenda was included in Ingram’s Magazine
Forty Under Forty Class of 2003.
Brenda was a founding member and President
of the Kansas Chapter of Children’s
Advocacy Centers and served on the Advisory Council of the Midwest Regional
Children’s Advocacy Center. She took on a leadership role with
the national organization that supports the development of child advocacy
centers,
the National
Children’s Alliance, and serves as a site reviewer for that organization’s
accreditation process.
Brenda received her Bachelor’s Degree in
Human Development and Family Studies from Kansas State University in
1990, and completed her Master's Degree
in Student Counseling and Personnel Services at Kansas State in 1993.
 Maggie A. Smet, RDH
MISSION STATEMENT: Maggie’s goal is to advance the profession
of dental hygiene and improve access to dental care and oral health
education for all citizens of Kansas.
Maggie began her career in
the dental field as a dental assistant working for both a general
dentist and an oral surgeon. Since graduating
from the Wichita State University Dept. of dental hygiene in 1990,
she has provided dental hygiene services in family practice settings
across Kansas. Maggie has been active with the Kansas Dental Hygienists’ Association
since graduation and has served on committees and as a Delegate
for KDHA to the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.
She was elected President of KDHA in 2004 and will serve until
September 2005.
Maggie enjoys volunteering for dental projects
including school dental screenings, Kansas Mission of Mercy (KMOM),
conducting oral
health educational programs for long term care facility employees
and providing dental hygiene services at her local Health Ministries
Clinic in Newton, KS. When not thinking about teeth and oral care,
she loves to scrapbook, tinker with photography and travel with
her wonderful husband Craig
and their two daughters, ages 6 and 7!
 Sharon L. Tidwell
Sharon Tidwell has served as executive director of the Walter S.
and Evan C. Jones Foundation since February, 2000. As executive
director, she oversees the day to day operations of the private,
non-profit foundation which awards grants totaling more than $1,000,000
annually to the needy youth of Coffey, Lyon, and Osage counties
in Kansas for medical expenses and post-secondary education, regardless
of age. Sharon has served on the Board of Directors for Oral Health
Kansas since the coalition’s inception in November of 2003
and also serves on the Board of Directors as secretary for Compeer
of East Central Kansas. For the past two years, she has served
on the Site Council for both Lowther South and Lowther North Intermediate
Schools in Emporia and was recently selected to serve a three-year
term as middle-level parent representative for Emporia USD 253
Curriculum Instructional Council.
Sharon is a Certified Travel
Counselor and prior to her career in the non-profit sector, planned
for fourteen years. Four of those
years she owned and operated her own agency. She resides in Emporia
with her husband, Dale and their daughter, Rebecca.
 Marlou Wegener
Marlou Wegener, born and raised in northwest Missouri, graduated
with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations from Northwest
Missouri State University in Maryville. She and her family have
made Kansas their home for more than twenty years.
Marlou is employed with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas as
the manager of community relations. She has the primary responsibility
of researching, developing, and implementing corporate community
relations projects. Two of the major projects she is responsible
for are SAVE (Shield Against Violent Environments) – the
company’s internal domestic violence awareness and prevention
program – and a business partnership with Chase Middle School
in Topeka. She is also responsible for the company’s corporate
giving programs, recruits members for two statewide advisory committees
and coordinates employee volunteerism programs.
Marlou represents the company on a variety of community boards,
planning committees and organizations such as Kansas Family Partnership,
of which she is the current board president. She also serves on
behalf of BCBSKS on the United Way of Greater Topeka leadership
committee and the Community Blood Center of Topeka advisory council.
Marlou is a graduate of the Leadership Council of Greater Topeka
(class of 1999) and was a company honoree for the YWCA Women of
Excellence program. Other community and professional organizations
that Marlou is a member of are: The Capper Foundation campaign
marketing committee, Topeka South Rotary, where she is currently
secretary, and the International Association of Business Communicators.
Marlou is married to Don and has three children – Amanda,
Adam, and Austin.
Jason Wesco
Jason Wesco is a native Hoosier that comes to Kansas by way of
Ohio. He holds an undergraduate degree in American History and
a graduate degree in American Culture Studies. His professional
career has been spent in public and private, non-profit organizations.
His work has included non-profit programs, funding development,
and serving as executive director of a community dental clinic
in Lawrence. Currently, he is Community Development Director
with the Kansas Association of the Medically Underserved. He
lives in
Topeka.
|
