St. Mary’s High School Rotary Interact Club distributes 1300 dental kits!

On May 28th, four of the St. Mary’s High School Rotary Interact Club attended the regular meeting of the Medford Rogue Rotary Club and gave a summary of this year’s project. Co-Presidents Owen Kuhl and Magni Glaser, along with Dylan Kuhl and Elsa Lee, provided the Club with an account of the challenges faced and successes achieved this year. Elsa Lee and Dylan Kuhl will be Co-Presidents for the  2026 Interact Club.

The 2025 Interact Club membership was made up of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Thanks to recruiting efforts by the Co-Presidents, the Club had its largest membership in the past ten years with fifteen members participating.  The Interact Club, with St. Mary’s High School Principal, Jim Meyer, as the school’s advisor, met twice a week beginning in January.

The Club members chose to continue the children’s dental education kit project this year, which that has become a traditional project for the Club.  In Oregon, children’s dental health is a growing concern, with significant disparities based on income and race. The Interact Club members want to try to help as many children in the Medford area to learn the proper way to care for their teeth.  The Interactors spent two months going to dental offices in the Medford area and asking for contributions of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss. Additional supplies were also purchased using grant monies from an Oregon Community Foundation donor advised fund.

The Interactors held a “Dental Kit Assembly” event in May assembling 1300 kits. Each children’s dental education kit contains a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, a two-minute timer and instructions in English and Spanish on how to properly care for teeth.  The kits were then distributed to three Medford based organizations: Head Start of Jackson County, The Oregon Children’s Museum Ivy Pre-Schools, and Kids Unlimited Academy Charter School.  The Interactors learned each organizations’ mission and were given tours.