Iowa Dental Convention Annual Session

Greetings!

The last time I wrote, I was preparing for my final exams (I had five this semester and three on one day!). Well, I have finished my exams but have not been taking it easy. This past weekend was the Iowa Dental Association Annual Meeting in Iowa City. As the Goodwill Ambassador to the IDA, I was very much involved in several events throughout the weekend.

On Friday night was the Presidential Gala at the Marriot Convention Center. The Gala dinner was held in honor of the outgoing and incoming IDA Presidents (Bill Strohman and my father, David Davidson) and as a fundraiser for the Iowa Mission of Mercy. I know I have talked about the Iowa Mission of Mercy quite a lot in the past, but this is such a wonderful event and deserves to be discussed again. The IMOM is the Iowa Dental Foundation’s annual event in which about 1,500 patients are provided with a total of $1,000,000 of dentistry over the course of one weekend. This year, the event will be held in Sioux City on November 18-19th. The event has not been provided with any federal or state funding, so the $400,000 that is needed to put on the event is done all through private fundraisers and donations. The Presidential Gala was very successful and raised over $14,000 for the IMOM! The event was also a lot of fun with a cruise theme (I was the cruise director). One of my main duties was to sell raffle tickets for a cruise that was given away at the end of the night. I had many people tell me that I am a natural salesperson and while I don’t want to pursue a career in sales, I had a great time making the rounds. Take a look at the pictures!


I was very diligent about my job!


Talking to one of the Presidential Gala guests about purchasing a raffle ticket.


Drawing the name of the winner of the cruise!

Also that night, I was able to meet and talk with the past and present leaders of the IDA. This really is a year for unprecedented access to those who have the ability to help me with my platform and spread the word of the importance of oral health. I met delegates from every member of the 10th District of the ADA (Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa) and many past Presidents of the IDA. A couple photos with the leadership are below.


With Dr. William Calnon, the President-Elect of the American Dental Association. Dr. Calnon joined us from New York.


With Dr. Dan and Vicki Kegler. Dr. Kegler is the newly elected President-Elect of the Iowa Dental Association.

On Saturday, my father officially became the President of the IDA after a vote by the IDA House of Delegates. It was wonderful to attend that meeting and listen to his well-prepared (and hilarious!) speech. Also congratulations to Dr. Dan Kegler of Independence who became the President-Elect and Dr. Mary Marriani of Davenport who became the Vice President. They are both wonderful dentists and will be great leaders for this organization.


My dad became the new President of the Iowa Dental Association.

I also took some time to walk around the Convention floor and had some fun looking at all the different dental tools and products!


With some of my dad's staff!


Loving the magnifiers on these dental glasses!


Having fun with some model teeth.


Every year, the Iowa Dental Association holds a drawing contest for elementary students across the state featuring a dental theme. This year, all the students demonstrated the need to brush and floss daily. I was able to meet the adorable and talented kids who won the contest. Here I am with their artwork.

This past week I have been in Washington, D.C. at the Washington Leadership Convention held by the American Dental Association. This has been a wonderful experience and I will tell you more about it once the week is over.

Neil Armstrong Elementary

Greetings! A lot has happened in the last week since I posted.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I had a photo session with Ben Shirk of Shirk Photography and the images have now been posted! Here a couple of the photos from that session:






On Wednesday, I had meetings with several Iowa legislators planned in Des Moines. However, as those of you who have been following state politics know, the Democrats left the legislature on Tuesday night for the whole week and the Republicans barred themselves into conference. Unfortunately, this meant that all of my meetings were cancelled! Public policy is one of the main pillars of my platform and talking to legislators is one of my favorite things to do. While it was disappointing not to be able to go, I am lucky and excited that I will be able to visit Iowa’s national senators and representatives in Washington, D.C. in just one week.

On Friday, I visited Neil Armstrong Elementary School in Bettendorf to present to two second-grade classrooms. Jessica Erbst, Miss Pearl City’s Outstanding Teen, joined me for the morning and it was wonderful to be able to bond with her over our mutual passion for helping kids live healthier lives. I was very impressed at her ability to connect with the students and spark their interest in her platform. As always, it was an absolute joy to visit with the students! At the end of the second presentation, the kids all surrounded me and gave me big hugs. One little boy keep coming back for extra hugs (I think he gave me five all told!).


Jessica and I with the first class.


During the presentation. If you look at my PowerPoint, you can actually see a picture of my teeth that I use for an example.


During my presentation.


With the second class. You can see the little boy just peeking his head over my shoulder. What a sweetie!


Jessica and I were on the homepage for Neil Armstrong this week! I snipped a shot of the homepage. Look at the website for yourself: http://na.bettendorf.k12.ia.us/

Saturday was Miss Iowa Orientation in Davenport at the beautiful Hotel Blackhawk. It was wonderful to finally meet all of the contestants! From just our one day together, I can already tell that Miss Iowa week will be a great week. Now that Miss Iowa Orientation has passed, I really feel like Miss Iowa is just right around the corner. I can’t wait for June!

I am actually taking all of my final exams this week, so this post has been a break from studying. I guess I should get back to reading about Recruiting (for my Staffing and Talent Management final) and the Basel Convention (for my International Law final). Wish me luck!

Crossroads Park Elementary

Greetings! Today I went to Crossroads Park Elementary School in West Des Moines for a presentation about my platform “Making Smiles Happen: Children’s Dental Health Advocacy”. I visited my former second grade teacher, Mrs. Dyer, and my brother’s former second grade teacher, Mrs. Brockberg. It was great to be able to see my teacher from 12 years ago!

Both classes were very attentive and were eager to learn how to better take care of their teeth. After a brief introduction, I gave the kids a little quiz to see how much they already knew about oral hygiene and safety. Here is an example of the type of questions I asked:
What are dental sealants?
A) A plastic coating on your teeth that protects against cavities.
B) Paints that make your teeth whiter.
C) Animals that entertain you in the dentist’s office.
D) People who help the dentist.

So, how’d you do? A is the correct answer. I asked about twenty questions and the kids probably got 2/3 of them correct. Good for a pre-test, but they would have done much better at the end of my presentation.


It's hard to tell, but I'm holding floss and discussing various ways to take care of teeth.

After the mini-quiz, we talked about different ways they could protect their teeth. In particular, we talked about the necessity of wearing a mouth guard while riding bikes, skateboarding, and sledding. I also had them each take a vow (while raising their right hand) that they wouldn’t get their tongue or lips pierced. Mouth piercing are probably the easiest way to cause self-inflicting damage to teeth.


A picture of the kids during my presentation.

Next, I asked for a volunteer who helped me in a plaque-revealing activity. My volunteer, Jerry in one class and Mackenzie in the other, chewed a tablet that turned teeth pink where there was excess plaque. I demonstrated the proper way to brush and floss teeth with a novelty toothbrush and set of teeth. Then, the volunteer brushed and flossed until the pink went away. This activity is great because it shows how careful you really need to be in order to properly take care of your teeth.


Getting ready for the plaque-revealing activity.


Demonstrating proper brushing technique.


I finished up the presentation showing photographs of unhealthy, damaged, and healthy teeth in order to motivate the students to take proper care of their oral health. The kids had tons of questions and comments (I heard lots of stories of siblings who have braces!) and seemed to have a wonderful time during the entire presentation. In fact, it took me ten minutes to leave because I kept getting sneak-attack hugs from students who would ask me not to leave! So cute!


They didn't want me to leave!

Truly, visiting elementary schools in one of my favorite things to do as Miss Pearl City and is such a wonderful way to promote both my platform and the Miss America Organization. It was also a special treat to return to my home elementary school. I have several other elementary school visits scheduled before Miss Iowa and I am excited about each and every one!


With Mrs. Brockberg's class.


With Mrs. Dyer's class. Notice the cluster of girls around me?

I have a busy week and can’t wait to let you know about all of the appearances I have scheduled.

Relay for Life

Hi everyone! Like always, I've been keeping busy and am currently in the midst of preparing for finals in just a few short weeks. I will actually be missing finals week to meet with the Iowa national delegates in Washington, D.C. while lobbying with the Iowa and American Dental Associations. Unfortunately, this means that I need to make up all of my exams the week before everyone else takes their final exams. Thankfully all of my professors realize what an amazing opportunity this is and have been very flexible.

Last Friday I participated in Relay for Life at the University of Iowa. Relay for Life is the main volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event of the American Cancer Society and it is estimated that Relay for Life events have raised over 3 billion dollars to date! The event went from 7:00pm on Friday until 7:00am on Saturday. I joined my business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi’s, team and had a blast! As one person from each team is supposed to walk the track at all times during the event, I bit the bullet and ended up walking for almost eight of the twelve hours! The rest of the time I was able to relax with friends, play competitive Jenga, and attempt to hula-hoop. While we all certainly had fun, it was also very fulfilling to know that we were doing our part in the fight against cancer. Probably the most touching moment was the Luminaria ceremony. Everyone at the event decorated a white paper bag in honor of a loved one who had battled, was fighting, or had defeated cancer. That ceremony really brought home the fact that every single person has been affected by cancer in some way. I decorated a bag for my grandmother who conquered breast cancer. This was an amazing event and they happen all over the country. I highly encourage everyone to attend one whenever they have an opportunity. The sleep deprivation is well worth it.


The officially Relay for Life logo.


The Luminaria ceremony.


With my teammates Lindsey and Peyton in front of the Relay for Life sign.

Sunday was the Hospice Walk in Iowa City at the Willow Creek Park. It snowed that morning and the weather was awful, but dozens of people showed up anyway! Hospice is especially important to me as my grandfather died in a Des Moines hospice. While talking about death is never easy, Hospice faces reality in a way that makes a painful process easier for both the individuals and their families.


Other participants at the Hospice Walk.

On a lighter note, I went back to Muscatine today to visit Ashlie Burroughs and have my hair treated. She performed a chemical gloss and gave me a much-needed trim. I think my hair looks much healthier. Thanks again, Ashlie!

After my appointment, I headed over to Wilton to check out my photos with Shirk Photography. Ben Shirk is such a creative photographer and has won many national awards. He is constantly coming up with new and exciting ideas. I am very pleased with the photographs and I can’t wait to share some with you! Until then.

Concert at Orange Street Theatre

Hello! It has been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted an entry. Actually, for about a week and a half, I battled a nasty cold/flu. Both my mom and I had the same symptoms and we think we might have picked something up on our trip to Peru. Accordingly, I called our illness the “Revenge of the Incas”. I’m back up to 100% now, though, and celebrated my good health with a busy week of pageant activities.

Wednesday, April 6th I had my headshots for Miss Iowa taken with Ben Shirk of Shirk Photography in Wilton, IA. In addition to the traditional headshots, we also went into the construction site of his new studio where I posed on a ladder and against exposed brick using only construction lighting, all while in a cocktail dress. Ben is so creative with his photographs and I can’t wait to see how they turn out! Take a look at his website (you’ll see a few photos of me under the “model” heading): http://www.shirkphotography.com/mp_includes/body.asp. Before the photos, I had my hair done by Ashlie Burroughs of AnewU Salon. Ashlie and her business partner Heather actually just opened this salon last month and it looks amazing! It is very professional and modern and the two owners are magicians with hair. Check out the photos of their studio on their Facebook page.

On Saturday, April 9th, I performed a concert with Miss Muscatine, Jessica Pray, and classical guitarist Dana Starkell at the Orange Street Theatre in Muscatine. The event was a huge success! The atmosphere was really informal with an intimate and supportive audience. I performed six pieces on the harp, including my Miss Iowa talent selection, Debussy’s “Girl with the Flaxen Hair”, and the third movement of Hindemith’s Sonata for Harp. Jessica and Dana performed wonderfully and the audience seemed to really enjoy the show. Artists are brought to the Orange Street Theatre every month by Performing Arts Muscatine and I would highly suggest attending one of their shows in the future. I’ve included a couple of photographs from the events.


The advertisement for the concert.


Posing with my harp.


Explaining the harp to some interested audience members during intermission.


With my executive directors, Ashley and Kindra, and Miss Muscatine, Jessica.


My lovely Miss Pearl City Outstanding Teen sister, Jessica.

Sunday was the Spring Bridal Extravaganza, the annual bridal show hosted by the Miss Iowa Scholarship Pageant in Davenport. A great showing of guests were able to talk and meet with over 20 bridal vendors. I was able to talk to some of my Miss Iowa sisters at the event, including Miss Iowa 2010 Pauli Mayfield. I always get excited and impatient for Miss Iowa whenever I’m around the other contestants! The finals are two months and one day from today…not that I’m counting down the days.


With Miss Northeast Iowa, Emily, and Red Hot Brian Scott from the B100 radio station.

I’ve got another busy couple of weeks coming up, but I’ll do my best to post entries when I’m able. Until next time!

Goodwill Ambassador

Hi all!
This is just going to be a short post, but I wanted to share some good news. On Friday, the board of trustees for the Iowa Dental Association unanimously voted to name me the official “Goodwill Ambassador” to the Iowa Dental Association and the Iowa Dental Foundation (the charitable organization run by the IDA that puts on events like the Iowa Mission of Mercy). I am so honored and excited to do what I can to promote the Iowa Dental Association throughout our state and to continue to support children’s dental health through my platform “Making Smiles Happen”.



Additionally, I am proud to announce that the Davidson family now has another doctor! My sister-in-law Beth passed her thesis defense on Friday. For the last four years, Beth has been researching the connection between cleft lip/palate and breast cancer. It was fascinating to hear about what she has been working on (although my non-scientific mind stopped processing information after about the first 15 minutes of the public discussion!). While she will not officially receive her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology until she completes the MSTP program next May (meaning that she will receive both a PhD and an MD), I am not going to waste any time calling her Dr. Davidson. Congratulations, Beth!


With Beth and my brother Michael before the public discussion of Beth's research.

My information is up on the Miss Iowa website. Check me out! http://www.missiowa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=586:miss-pearl-city-2011&catid=89:local-winner-2011&Itemid=313

Finally, next Friday, I will be traveling home to West Des Moines to present my platform to two of my former elementary school classrooms. On Saturday, I will watch the crowning of a new Miss Greater Des Moines. Can’t wait to give you the details. Until then!

Elizabeth

Peru

Greetings! It has been a long time since I last posted an entry, but I decided to take a couple weeks to concentrate on school as I went through my midterm exams.

I am currently writing from Lima, Peru, where I am on vacation. When I was nine years old, my dad met Liset while on a missionary trip to Tumbes, Peru and she came to live with us on a student exchange. Eleven years later, we were finally able to come and visit her. It was such a joy to see her, her husband (Karlo), and her two young children (Caleb, 5, and Lucas, six months). Below is a picture of Liset, Caleb, Lucas, my mom, and me at dinner one night.



For a couple of days, my dad and I traveled to Cusco and Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and for good reason. I’m not sure if I have ever seen something more amazing. The Incas began constructing this town around 1400 and it was the official site of the Inca rulers until the Spanish Conquest, but the ruins were not discovered until 1911. What I find so fascinating about Machu Picchu, and the other Inca ruins that we visited, is that no one knows how these buildings were constructed. The stones are all irregular shapes, but they fit together so well that not even a piece of paper can fit between the stones (or at least on what they considered to be important buildings). The fit is so perfect that they didn’t even need to use mortar. Below are just a couple of pictures that we took at Machu Picchu.




Overlooking Machu Picchu. Such an amazing site!

On our trip, we also traveled about 45 minutes south of Lima to Lurin, the town where Liset’s family lives. Liset told us that Lurin is home to many poor families, so my parents and I brought along three suitcases full of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and beanie babies that we handed out to the children we met (thank you Crest!). We personally met about 50 children and left the remainder of the gifts at Liset’s church. As we were getting ready to leave, one little boy named Abdias ran up to me as I left and gave me a huge hug and kiss. When the other kids saw this, they all ran over and gave hugs, too. Their joy and excitement was so touching. There is no better feeling than being able to help those in need. And, for me, this was even more special because I was able to combine my two causes – children’s dental health and cultural advocacy. I could never contain myself to one passion. I’ve included a couple of the photos that we took that day because, after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.


With some new friends. This neighborhood is one of the poorest areas of Lurin.


The kids looking through the goodies that we brought.


Showing two young boys how to use the toothbrush properly.


The kids holding up their new toothbrushes and toothpaste.


We were surprised with a welcome sign at Guayabo. Here I am pictured with my parents and all of the children and teachers that we met. This was one of two locations where we handed out gifts.


This has been a wonderful vacation and it’ll be sad to leave and go back to real life. But, I have many exciting appearances scheduled over the next couple of months and I can’t wait to let you know about them. Until then!

Elizabeth