hirley Lee was meant to teach. Just ask her mother. Last year, Shirley recalls, her mom told her that, as a child, Shirley would line up her stuffed animals, pick up a little pointer, and “teach” her fluffy charges their daily lesson. “It’s a gift I always had.”

But her path to the classroom was indirect. Knowing that her parents considered health care a valued profession, Shirley earned her BS in dental hygiene at LLU. She and her husband then moved to Guam, where he served for eight years as a missionary dentist and Shirley was the island’s first-ever registered dental hygienist. Returning to Loma Linda in 1991, she joined the faculty and began delivering health presentations at local schools. Currently, she’s completing her MS in health professions education, and teaching dental hygiene.

But she teaches much more than the subject matter. “My students learn everything they need to know about dental anatomy. That’s a given. But I also tell them that, if they know Jesus Christ is number One, they have everything they’ll ever need to know.”

While most of her students are Seventh-day Adventist, Shirley adds, “I know they’re not all Adventist, and I’m not there to push anything on them.”

In addition to teaching, Shirley works to foster strong relationships between students, faculty, and staff. “One Bible study group that I organized decided to do something to thank the School of Dentistry’s janitorial staff for all the work they do for us. We baked cookies and made cards, and delivered wrapped packages to their clock-in location.” Although the group stopped meeting at quarter’s end, “They want to do it again. We had so much fun, and it strengthened our bonds with the people who help us do our jobs.”

Shirley doesn’t think she’s doing anything special. “Our faculty all have the heart to share with our students—it just comes out in different ways.”