Legal Action of WI is coming to Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac Campus! Tuesday, October 26 from 3-6 pm, legal experts will be on-site to help our students. Sign up here for a time to get free, confidential legal help! Walk-ins will also be accepted.

MPTC is partnering with Legal Action of Wisconsin and the statewide Lawyers for Learners project to help our students overcome legal obstacles, and empower them to move forward to achieve educational and career goals!

Whether a student is already involved in a court case or has a question about a situation that could involve a legal problem, Lawyers for Learners can help! Legal experts will meet with students either virtually or in person to explain legal processes, answer questions and provide advice on topics such as driver’s license issues, traffic issues, criminal issues, bankruptcy, immigration, housing, family matters, and more.

“What an awesome community partnership opportunity for MPTC!” Jackie Morgan, MPTC Student Community Equity and Engagement Specialist said. “Many times, legal issues can cause a student to put their education and career on hold. Affording legal help is definitely a challenge for our students. Partnering with Legal Action of WI and the Lawyers for Learners Project connects our students with the legal resources they need.”

MPTC Paralegal and Criminal Justice students are volunteers for our onsite legal event, with ongoing service-learning and paid internships available thru Legal Action of WI.

“What a great experiential learning opportunity for our students choosing careers in the legal or criminal justice fields,” Anne Lemke, Student Community Impact Coordinator said. “Hands-on, real-world experience, plus a way to impact your community is the best way to learn!”

To reach Legal Action of WI, contact Claire at cms@legalaction.org or 920-393-9352.

More information– Lawyers for Learners

In celebration of Manufacturing Month-here’s an exciting opportunity to help start your career in manufacturing.

Moraine Park is helping combat the skilled worker shortage by providing skill development through the Manufacturing Skills Academy.

This program, also known as manufacturing boot camps, offers the opportunity to explore a unique career pathway. The manufacturing boot camp is a 3-month training program in either CNC Machining or welding. During the program, you are part of a paid internship with a local employer. This means you’ll be paid while you learn! At the end of the program, you’ll have a college certificate and, in most cases, the opportunity to turn your internship into a full-time career.

Your first step toward your new career begins at our information sessions this November– offered both in-person and online. Here, you’ll learn about each career, meet the instructors and get the next step enrollment information.

One more great feature, Moraine Park’s boot camp programs are tuition-free. The tuition and materials costs are covered completely by grants and community support.

No previous manufacturing experience is necessary and there are no income limitations.

So, what are you waiting for? Space in the program is limited- sign up for your information session today to get started!

Information sessions are on Nov. 9 at the Fond du Lac campus and Nov. 17 online. Registration is required and information can be found here.

More information on Moraine Park’s boot camps can be found here.

Did you know Moraine Park is a Fair Trade College?  Actually we are the very first Fair Trade technical college in the U.S.  Way to go MPTC!  We are now celebrating 6 years as a Fair Trade College!

October is Fair Trade Month! Celebrate Fair Trade Month on all 3 MPTC campuses with Fair Trade Pop Up Shops.

• Monday, October 25 West Bend Campus Cafeteria 10:30 am-1:30 pm Featuring In the Meantime Gifts
• Tuesday, October 26 Beaver Dam Campus Cafeteria 10:30 am – 1:30 pm Featuring In the Meantime Gifts
• Thursday, October 28 Fond du Lac Campus Cafeteria 10:30 am – 1:30 pm Featuring Just Fare Market and Mayan Hands Friendship Bracelets

Fair trade supports farmers and artisans in developing countries who are socially and economically marginalized. These producers lack economic opportunity and often face steep hurdles in finding markets and customers for their goods. Fair Trade is about making a tremendous impact on artisan and farmer communities while offering great products to the public all around the world. Fair Trade certification promises quality products, fair pay for producers, environmentally sustainable practices, safe and empowering working conditions, no child labor, no human trafficking and more.

Fairly traded clothing, coffee, food, furniture, home decor, housewares, jewelry, tea, toys, personal accessories, and many other products are available from Fair Trade Organizations. At all three MPTC campuses, our bookstores carry Divine Chocolate and Good Paper greeting cards. Our cafeterias offer Farmer Brothers Fair Trade Coffee and Honest Tea!

We hope to see you at the Fair Trade Pop Up, learning more about improving lives together! 

Nursing School can be challenging and overwhelming, but also rewarding and fulfilling. The pressures associated with class load, clinicals, exams, and job availability can make it easy to lose sight of the art of caring while learning the science of nursing.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students was created to recognize and celebrate nursing students for the above-and-beyond care and compassion shown to patients and their families. The DAISY Foundation hopes that this program will inspire and motivate students to provide the best clinical skills possible and to impact patients and families with human spirit and kindness. 

Nominations for this award can come from any patient, staff nurse, fellow nursing students, faculty, or member of the community that the student has had a positive impact on.

The nomination period is now through December 1, 2021. The review committee will meet in mid-December and reveal the recipient at Moraine Park’s Pinning Ceremonies. The review committee has specific criteria for the selection committee that can be found on their website. The committee will include the following:

Kelly Shafaie (Representative from Dean’s office) 

Barb Brown (Alumni and retired faculty) 

Kelli De Ruyter (Partner facility, Cedar Community Advisory Member) 

Anne Lemke (Leadership at MPTC) 

Student life representatives will take turns on panel (Lisa Manuell, Sandy Botham for this academic year) 

Nominate here.

Any questions about the DAISY Award can be directed to the Student Nurses Association (SNA) advisors on each campus:

Beaver Dam- Grace Rommelfanger

Fond du Lac- Melissa Rodriguez  and Michelle Mengert 

West Bend- Karrie Bruegman-May

Educational partners from throughout West Bend came together on Oct. 12, to host U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin on the Moraine Park Technical College campus in West Bend. 

The visit featured stories on the partnerships between Moraine Park, the West Bend School District and the Kettle Moraine YMCA. The three community partners work to educate students and families from before primary school through graduation from college—all focused on meeting community workforce needs.  

“West Bend has deep roots as an educationally rich, collaborative community—with many educational touchpoints dedicated to efforts that build and grow the regional and state workforce,” Peter Rettler, dean of Moraine Park’s West Bend campus, said. 

During her visit, Baldwin participated in a roundtable meeting with students, faculty and teachers, administrators, industry partners and education supporters. The visit highlighted the facilities and people who educate the future workforce in West Bend, Washington County and beyond.  

“The needs surrounding education are continuously evolving and we have to plan for the future,” Moraine Park President Bonnie Baerwald said. “It’s important Senator Baldwin not only sees the important work we are all doing now, but also understands the needs we will face in the future as we work to help influence the future workforce.” 

Mary Daley recently started as Moraine Park’s new Tutoring Services Specialist. Daley comes from K-12 education where she worked as a kindergarten teacher.  

“I wanted a change, but also wanted to stay in education,” Daley said. “I’m excited to help students in a new way at Moraine Park.” 

In her new role, Daley recruits peer tutors, professional tutors and tutor specialists, and matches them with students based on their programs and classes. 

“Some students need peer tutors, some need professional tutors and some need the Student Center–every student is unique and has different needs to be met,” Daley said. 

Daley looks forward to improving the tutoring program and introducing new ways for students to get help with their coursework. 

Contact Mary for any tutoring needs: 

mdaley1@morainepark.edu 

(920) 924-6488 

FDL Campus 

The Ell classes at the Beaver Dam Campus are up and running in person this semester. It is so nice to have the students back on campus! The evening class is very popular and there currently are 13 students attending on a regular basis. We have a very diverse population this semester. We have students ranging in ages from 18 to 74. The students all have Spanish as their first language, but represent many countries and cultures. We have students from Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Guatemala. It is quite interesting to talk about dialect differences, beautiful locations and specialty food from each country.

The majority of the students work all day and come to class at night. They are exhausted, but really motivated to learn English in order to get promotions at work and make life easier here in the United States The students work at a variety of different business such as local farms, a foundry and cheese factories. The teacher, Jennifer Lang, tries to connect the curriculum to their work and daily lives as much as possible in order to keep the classes relevant, instantly applicable, and engaging.

What makes the classes successful is that it is a balanced mix of fun and hard work. The students build an instant community and there is a strong sense of teamwork and comradery. Jennifer gives strong encouragement to the students and reminds them that they are all on a different path and to not make comparisons. She shares many of her embarrassing language learning stories to help put the students at ease and to laugh at their own mistakes. She likes to share the story of how she tried to order two pounds of soap instead of ham. Soap is jabón and ham is jamón-easily confused. As for the two pounds, well, she needs a little help with the metric system.

If you are ever on the Beaver Dam Campus on Tuesday or Thursday nights, stop by and say !Hola! If you are interested in registering for classes, please reach out to Tony Rodriguez at 920-887-4496 or 262-306-5302 arodriquez@morainepark.edu (Beaver Dam and West Bend) or Becky Melo 920-924-6339 rmeloenriquez@morainepark.edu (Fond du Lac).

Moraine Park’s Online Accounting program was ranked #11 in best online accounting programs in the nation by University HQ, a leading independent education organization providing students with resources to prepare them for their career and educational journeys. 

“Moraine Park’s ranking reflects our faculty, staff and management’s dedication to helping students master the skills necessary to reach their education and employment goals,” Joan Falter, Moraine Park Accounting Instructor, said. “The accounting team works with our advisory team to ensure that our program meets current needs. Online students have shared surprise in their ability to interact one-on-one with the accounting faculty.” 

The ranking is based on unbiased government reports that analyze admission, retention, graduate rates, diplomas awarded, programs offered, graduate salaries, loan default rates and the percentage of students receiving financial aid. 

“This ranking in addition to the fact that we don’t charge higher out-of-state tuition will continue to build our out-of-state student body,” Falter said. 

Moraine Park’s Online Accounting program was an early adopter of online learning and has been quick to increase synchronous online options. 

“Consistency among modalities and instructors ensures a cohesive learning experience throughout the program,” Julie Dilling, Moraine Park Accounting Instructor, said. “This minimizes students’ cognitive load because they know what to expect as far as cadence and requirements in each of the program courses.” 

Moraine Park provides many resources for students to aid in their successful learning outcomes such as academic advising, counseling, disability services, student life, employment services, tutoring and more, which are all available to online students. 

“In the future, we expect to build on past success,” Falter said. “We will continue implementing new modalities such as synchronous online classes in order to provide online learners with a remote ‘face-to-face’ option.” 

Moraine Park’s Online Accounting program was also ranked #4 in the nation by The Best Schools, an educational and professional resource for students. 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

It couldn’t come at a more urgent time, given the dramatic surge in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Greater awareness and collective action are critical to stop and prevent the abuse that is killing someone EVERY FIVE DAYS IN WISCONSIN, according to the most recent Domestic Homicide Report released last week by the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. EVERY. FIVE. DAYS.

That’s why we all need to join in with the No More chapters around the world in launching the Join the Chorus campaign during October. Everyone — leaders, communities, bystanders — must lend their voice to say No More!

Fond du Lac Says No More is in the third year of community wide efforts, led by the FDL Area Women’s Fund to take a united stand as a community: NO MORE silence. NO MORE silent bystanders. NO MORE violence. TOGETHER WE CAN END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT.

SSM Agnesian DV and Solutions Center DV are the service providers in Fond du Lac.

PAVE is the service provider for Beaver Dam.

FRIENDS is the service provider in West Bend.

Christine Ann is the service provider for Green Lake.

#DVAM2021#FDLsaysNoMore#JoinTheChorus#westandupFDL#Every1KnowsSome1