Alexander G. Alemis, D.D.S., F.A.G.D. from Family Dental Care.
Family Dental Care, which has offices in the Chicagoland area and Indiana, has established a new scholarship with the Moraine Valley Community College Foundation. Three $500 scholarships will be awarded to current or incoming students in the college’s noncredit Dental Assisting Program and can be used for tuition and fees.
“We wanted to help out a top-talent school and find the best people to start a career at our company,” said Peter Alemis, Family Dental Care’s chief development officer and son of Dr. Alexander Alemis, who began the practice over 30 years ago. “We feel Moraine Valley brings the best talent in the southwest suburbs, and we wanted to help start someone’s career,” he said.
One criterion of the scholarship is that recipients agree to complete an internship, if scheduling permits, with Family Dental Care, which is the largest, privately-owned dental group in Chicago, with seven offices and over 150 employees. Alemis said this is an important aspect of the partnership with Moraine Valley because they want to give students an educational opportunity.
“I feel we would teach them about hard work, discipline and working with all sorts of people. Their desire to serve an internship would show that they’re interested in a career,” he said.
Alemis noted Family Dental Care currently has several employees who attended Moraine Valley.
“They work for us in different areas – dental assisting, business staff and marketing. Since we have quite a few individuals who graduated from the college, we see the quality of their students,” he said. In addition to providing the scholarships and internship opportunities, Family Dental Care plans to give presentations in classes to discuss the dental field.
“We are so excited to begin this partnership with Family Dental Care to help support our students and assist them with their workforce needs,” said Kristy McGreal, executive director of the Foundation. “Creating this scholarship is a unique way to support workforce training and create a pipeline of qualified workers in a growing industry. We greatly appreciate Family Dental Care’s generosity and willingness to be a support system for Moraine Valley’s Dental Assisting Program.”
Alemis encourages other businesses to work with the Moraine Valley Foundation to create scholarships.
“You’re helping out a student and can potentially change a person’s trajectory in life. That also comes back to you – maybe you find a great candidate or you help your community. All of that benefits you in the end,” he said.
For more information on creating a scholarship at Moraine Valley, contact McGreal at mcgrealc2@morainevalley.edu.
