Oregon Public Broadcasting

Antoine Purnell still remembers his first visit to the dentist.

Antoine Purnell presents his Senior Exhibition at Big Picture High School in Seatac, while his principal, Jeff Petty, takes notes. Antoine decided to go into dentistry when he noticed that poor children had chipped and missing teeth and other oral health problems.

It freaked him out.

Antoine Purnell:  "When I seen him pull out the needle and asked me to open my mouth, it wasn't happening.  Actually I ran out the room and my brother-in-law Dave had to come get me from the car, 'cause I actually locked myself in the car, 'cause I didn't want to get the shot, and I was crying."

Now, at the age of 18, Antoine wants to be a dentist himself.

Last month, Antoine became a member of the first graduating class of Big Picture High School in Seatac, Washington.

He told KUOW reporter Phyllis Fletcher he never would have considered dentistry if he hadn't gone to Big Picture.

The concept behind Big Picture is to connect students with their interests.   The school matches students with internships -- to help them engage in learning, stay in school, and get ready for life after high school. 

Class three days a week, internships on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Antoine wanted to be a youth pastor when he started at Big Picture.  So he became an intern at his church.  He knew the little kids he worked with were from low-income families, like he was.  And he noticed something about them.

Antoine Purnell:  "I seen a lot of them with bad mouths.  Missing teeth, black marks all over their mouth, or chipped teeth, or anything like that.  So it kinda made me think.  When you're a person who don't like to see other people like that, it kinda makes you think of all the things that you can do."

So he talked to a woman at his church who worked for a dentist, and got an internship at his office.  It seemed like a great first step.  But Antoine noticed something about the dentist.

Antoine Purnell:  "If you have money up front, he'll treat you like a king.  Or a queen, if you're a female.  But if you're a person with medical coupon, or DSHS, he will treat you like crap."

Antoine says the dentist didn't give the standard goody bag with floss and toothbrushes to the poor kids.  Sometimes the dentist would drill away when Antoine could see him ignore signs that a low-income patient was in pain.

Antoine Purnell:  "I hated seeing him reject little kids, families, and everything, that actually really had bad decay and that actually needed some work done, you know?"

He especially hated to see it happen to kids like him.  Kids who relied on public assistance to pay for dental care.

When poor children have bad experiences at the dentist, it can affect them for life.

Just ask Carol Allen about her first time at the dentist.  It got off to a bad start when the receptionist loudly asked her mother for her welfare card.  And in the dentist's chair, it got worse.

Carol Allen:  "He never asked if it was hurting.  And I - I can still feel that pain right now, you know?  And so, it was so traumatic, that I'm almost about to cry."

Because it was so bad every time she went to the dentist, when she grew up, she didn't go for 12 years.  By then, she had to have seven teeth pulled.

But today, Carol works for Public Health Seattle-King County.  She trains dentists who serve low-income families.  She teaches how to ask patients discreetly for their medical coupons, and how to treat children while they sit in their parents' laps.

Carol Allen:  "When I'm working with dentists, I always share my story with them."

So here's how Antoine met Carol.

Antoine felt he had to get out of his internship.  And he still wanted to help poor kids with dental problems.

He did a web search and found Carol's program.  He did an internship with her.

In his senior year at Big Picture, he went with Carol to do dental screening and outreach in public schools.  Carol says Antoine was a natural.  Even with middle school kids.

Carol Allen:  "He actually asked them some questions and pulled 'em in.  He's like, 'what's your favorite candy bar?' you know?  And the person would say, 'oh, Twix.'  And he's like, 'hmm, let's see.  Do you know' and he started telling them how much sugar was in Twix, and they're like, 'huh? I didn't know that!,' you know?  'I'm never gonna eat that candy bar again!'"

Antoine Purnell:  "Helping the kids, it puts a smile on my face, because they're into it."

Carol Allen:  "I must say I was so impressed."

Antoine Purnell:  "You know, see what actually they're eating, and see what actually gives them decay or cavities or anything like that, and they know how to prevent that now."

And for the kids who were screened and who had cavities developing, Carol and Antoine referred them to dentists Carol had trained.

Before he could graduate, Antoine had to do a final presentation.  But something was wrong.  He didn't have all his work done.  Hours before he was scheduled to present, he told his advisor he wasn't ready.  Rather than push the issue, they decided to reschedule for three days later.  That kind of decision is not unusual at Big Picture.

I asked Principal Jeff Pettty how that kind of flexibility prepares kids for environments that are less nurturing -- like dental school.  Jeff says the key thing his students need to succeed beyond Big Picture is resourcefulness -- something he believes they already have. 

Most Big Picture students live below federal poverty guidelines.  Petty says many of them have to be resourceful just to get to school.

Jeff Petty:  "So, through the internship process we put them in situations where real work is happening.  So instead of the kind of contrived resourcefulness of 'you gotta do this homework assignment' or, you know, 'here's a paper due on this day and you'll get a grade,' we try to put them in settings where there are real consequences to their being able to problem-solve or not."

Antoine says he has learned to deal with deadlines.  And that if he'd had to give his presentation the day it was due, he would have.  But he thinks the extra time made it better.

Now that he's graduated, he says he'll go to technical school and dental school. 

He says he'll set up his own practice.  And one or two days a week, Antoine plans to see families for free.

Big Picture High School in Seatac is one of 70 similar schools across the country.  The Big Picture organization also has a school in the Beaverton, Oregon school district called Terra Nova.