Dental Lab Alumna Teaches Future Leaders in Same Program
Every day she heads into work, Julie Jurgens, née Sikora looks forward to teaching students in the same building and program she attended while in high school.
Jurgens graduated from Maryvale High School and the Erie 1 BOCES Harkness Career & Technical Center in Cheektowaga in 1986. While at Harkness, she attended classes in the Dental Laboratory Technology program, deciding she would like to try learning something totally different from her traditional academic schedule.
“I enrolled at Erie 1 BOCES in 1984 not knowing at the time that everything would end up coming full circle for me,” Jurgens noted. “I loved coming to Harkness every day as a student and I love and appreciate it even more as a teacher.”
Jurgens chose to enroll in the Dental Lab program because she is a visual learner and enjoys working with her hands. As a senior in the program during her second year, she worked after school Monday through Friday in a dental lab, gaining real-world experience in the field while still in high school.
Under the instruction of Jeff Ortman, Jurgens learned about the complex combination of science, art and craftsmanship in producing dental restorations for natural teeth. The program covers the five specialties of dental lab technology: complete denture, partial denture, crown and bridge restoration, porcelain and ceramics and orthodontics.
After completing the Erie 1 BOCES program, Jurgens attended SUNY Erie South Campus for the Dental Lab Technology curriculum. She pointed out her time at Erie 1 BOCES opened doors for her, giving her experience being employed while still learning. In addition, her employer was one of her instructors at SUNY Erie.
“Having a background in the dental lab helped me in college because I was already familiar with the terminology, the hands-on skills and what it takes to work in the lab,” Jurgens stated.
After graduating from SUNY Erie, Jurgens immediately started working full-time. She worked in a few dental labs in the area before taking a permanent position at Great Lakes Dental Technologies in Tonawanda, where she worked for 17 years.
“I had a wide array of responsibilities there, from lab benchwork to training new employees,” she added. “I eventually became a supervisor, where I managed two different departments.”
After working at Great Lakes Dental Tech for 17 years, Jurgens decided to join Erie 1 BOCES as the Dental Lab instructor in 2005, completing her education at Buffalo State College as well. Now in her former teacher’s shoes, Jurgens helps students like herself learn more about careers in the dental field.