Grand Strand Newsmakers

Pawleys Island Dentist Receives AGD Fellowship Award

The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) is pleased to announce that Nicholas A. Papadea, DMD, FAGD, of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, received the association’s Fellowship Award during the AGD 2016 annual meeting, which took place July 16 in Boston.

The AGD Fellowship Award is presented to dentists who seek to provide the highest quality dental care by remaining current in their profession. To earn this prestigious honor, Dr. Nicholas Papadea completed 500 hours of dental continuing education, passed a comprehensive written exam, and fulfilled three years of continuous membership in the AGD.

As a Fellowship Award recipient, Dr. Papadea joins nearly 7,000 active AGD Fellows who have gone above and beyond the basic requirements to care for their patients’ oral health.

“We are proud to honor Dr. Papadea for his commitment in reaching this lofty goal,” says AGD Immediate Past President W. Mark Donald, DMD, MAGD. “he has distinguished himself professionally among his peers and is a role model for both his fellow dentists and the Pawleys Island community.”

Dr. Papadea graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999 and currently practices dentistry in Pawleys Island. He and his wife, Dr. Meredith Papadea, a pediatric dentist in Pawleys Island, have 2 children, EllaMarina and Nicholas.

Supplies for Success- Old Bridge Preservation Society sponsors Back-to- School School Supply Drive

Ready, Set, Give! Supplies for Success, sponsored by the Old Bridge Preservation Society will be ongoing throughout the month of August. Back-to- school school supplies will be collected for Supplies for Success at a number of area locations – just look (or ask) for the box! The collected school supplies will be donated to the students at Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary School.

This is the fifth anniversary of Old Bridge being moved to its present location at 109 Shoreline Drive West in Sunset Beach. To commemorate its birthday, the Old Bridge Preservation Society has planned a number of events throughout the year as a give back to the community. Supplies for Success is just one such event. A few of the events have been the dedication of a bench honoring the former Sunset Beach Bridge Tenders, the Spread the Love PB & J campaign in June and the July installation of a Little Free Library at the OBPS Museum and Interpretive Center.

There is a great need for school supplies for students. In order for children to be successful they need the tools for school. Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary school’s vision as stated on their website is for every child to learn and exhibit skills that will prepare them to be life-long learners. Just like an electrician or carpenter needs the right tools to be a successful professional, students need the right materials and supplies in order to be fully engaged in the learning process. People can drop off any school supplies they would like at any of the locations. Especially needed are glue sticks, children’s scissors, #2 yellow pencils, spiral notebooks and marble composition notebooks.

So help fill a student’s backpack. When you are out and about, look for the labeled Supplies for Success donation bins at these participating area locations: Backstreet Café, Body Edge, Brunswick Business Center, Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce, Century 21 (Sunset Beach), Core and More, Ingram Planetarium, Mystical Reflections, Old Bridge Preservation Society Museum and Interpretive Center, Seaside United Methodist Church, Silver Coast Winery, Spa Rituals, Spirit Quest, Sunset Beach Town Hall, The Olive Press, Windowz, and more.

To make it even more fun, when you donate to Supplies for Success, take a “Selfless Selfie” of you and your donation. Text the selfie to 910-363- 6585 and it will be posted to the OBPS webpage and Facebook page. See yourself and friends helping young people in a critical way throughout the school year.

Drop by and drop in a school supply in the donation bin at the Old Bridge Preservation Society Museum and Interpretive Center (or at any of the other locations) any time in August. Hours are Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5-8 p.m., Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. until Labor Day.

For more information about hours (and to see your Selfless Selfie”), visit oldbridgepreservationsociety.org or call 910-363- 6585.

Santee Cooper Environmental Intern Program, Interns gain valuable experience on environmental needs

Each year, 12 gifted South Carolina college students apply their knowledge from textbooks and labs to a hands-on learning experience as Santee Cooper Environmental Interns.

The Environmental Intern Program began in 1990 and has hosted a total of 273 participants. As in past years, this year’s interns are gaining knowledge on an electric utility’s role in balancing the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity with the challenges and opportunities of renewable energy and other environmental matters.

Each intern spends six weeks of their 10-week internship rotating through three environmental areas of the company. Nine areas of the company participate: Air and Water Quality, Analytical and Biological Services, Coal Combustion Products and Waste Management, Investment Recovery, Property Management, Old Santee Canal Park, Renewable Energy, Right-of- Way Management and Vector Management.

“The ability to explore and learn about the different areas involved in a public utility is what appealed to me the most when I decided to apply for the program,” said Sharlen Nguyen, a senior from North Myrtle Beach majoring in environmental geology at Clemson University. “Discovering how much Santee Cooper puts their customers first and how much effort it takes to power people’s homes is what surprised me the most during the internship.”

This year, 103 students applied for the internship and 12 were chosen from throughout the state. Of the 12, seven represent each South Carolina congressional district and five represent the state at large. The program is particularly competitive, and after their summer with Santee Cooper, the interns will leave the utility with insightful knowledge they can apply to their classes and future careers.

This story was originally published August 8, 2016 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Grand Strand Newsmakers."