Moraine Park Technical College is committed to community engagement and student success. The College supports these commitments through the opportunity for students to participate instudent community impact and apply their classroom knowledge to an applicable, real world environment.
In 2018, MPTC started a community impact awards program where students can track their service hours, submit their reflections, and earn a Bronze Award for 25 hours, Silver Award for 50 hours,Gold Award for 100 hours, or Presidents Award for 200 hours of service learning or volunteering.
This summer we have awarded our second President’s Award Winner – Brett Hebert! Brett earned the President’s Award with over 200 volunteer hours.
Upon receiving his President’s Award, Brett stated: “Education at MPTC has given me a whole new book to live my life through. I am applying now to become a police officer, my lifelong dream job!” President Bonnie Baerwald said, “Brett is an exemplary student who has created a high standard. He has a love for life and learning and making a difference in the world. We all have high hopes for his career and hope he will be a part of our community for a long time to come.”
August 26th each year is a reminder of the civil rights movement for women to vote in the United States. Dating back to 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, where the first women’s rights convention was held, this day commemorates the day in 1973 when Women’s Equality Day would be officially recognized each year by the United States Congress.
The day calls attention to a woman’s right to vote and be treated as 1st class citizens, just like the men. Our country still strives to close equity gaps in pay for women compared to men. On average, women make $0.80 for every dollar earned by male colleagues, according to an article on business.org.
At Moraine Park, we strive through our NTO (non-traditional occupation) programming to offer occupations to women that are predominately occupied by males. We believe you can achieve what you set out to achieve and MPTC is here to remind you this day in history came with barriers, and now those barriers do not exist.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment and as our country is more divided than ever in regards to civil rights and social justice issues, MPTC wants to encourage students to be informed, make an impact in your community and exercise your right to vote, because someone, a long time ago fought for you to do so.
To learn more about our NTO programs, visit morainepark.edu/nto.
Moraine Park Technical College awarded its first business and industry partnership awards, recognizing valued partners of 2019. The College’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) team has implemented five separate partnership awards to be presented each fiscal year; Excellence in Partnership, Employer of the Year, Innovation, New Partner of the Year, and Workforce Development Champion.
The Excellence in Partnership award is given to an organization involved in several areas of the college including advisory committees, Foundation donations, TechConnect, EWD contracts, and boot camp internships. The 2019 award recipient is Mayville Engineering Co. (MEC). As a longtime partner, MEC has supported its employees serving on Moraine Park advisory committees; welding fabrication, IT applications developer, and mechanical design technology. Their generous contributions to the Promise program were vital in meeting fundraising goals, ultimately helping fund tuition for students who otherwise couldn’t afford it. MEC has been utilizing TechConnect and partnering with EWD both in contracted services and as a boot camp internship site for several years. All of these reasons, and more, earned them the inaugural Excellence in Partnership award. The College presented the award to MEC representatives Alex Crimmings, Charles Francis, and Kevin Smith, during a small, private gathering.
The Employer of the Year award is given to an employer who has made a significant investment in their staff through a partnership with Moraine Park Technical College. The 2019 award recipient is Mercury Marine, for being a valued and consistent partner with Moraine Park. Mercury Marine has partnered with the College to launch the following development programs: Basic Shop Math, CNC Machining Fundamentals, CNC Machining Level 2, Core Skills, Forklift Train the Trainer, Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, Inspire Supervisor Series, Intro to Engine Fundamentals, Nims Review, and Dealer Training. The College presented the award virtually to Andres Gonzalez, vice president of human resources at Mercury Marine.
The Innovation Award is given to an organization that implemented an innovative solution to a workforce challenge. The 2019 award recipient is Bike Friendly West Bend, for their work and collaboration that surrounded the implementation of bike racks around the city of West Bend. The racks were created by students in the mechanical design and welding programs at Moraine Park. As a result of this project, the students gained valuable real-life experience and earned service learning hours. As well, the City of West Bend was positively impacted and can move forward in their bike-friendly efforts. The College recognized Bike Friendly West Bend and representatives Andrew Schumacher and Jeff Puetz with a virtual recognition.
The New Partner of the Year award is given to an organization that supports Moraine Park through contributions, sponsorships, or involvement for the first time. The 2019 award recipient is Envision Greater Fond du Lac for their collaboration and engagement in the development and delivery of the new Leading Through People and Processes (LPP) program. Envision began working with Moraine Park in the winter of 2018 to create an innovative approach to leadership development within the Fond du Lac community. Their existing program had been in direct competition with the College’s offerings, and the goal was to show the community the value of collaboration and partnership while creating a new best practice opportunity. The Leading Through People and Processes (LPP) program, launched in summer 2019, was the first training program developed and delivered collaboratively with Moraine Park. The College presented the award to Envision Fond du Lac representatives Holly Brenner, Allen Buechel, James Cleveland, Sadie Parafiniuk, and Paul Reetz at a small, private gathering.
The Workforce Development Champion award is given to an individual focused on improving the skills and retention of personnel in the region and has positively impacted workforce issues around recruitment, training, and career development. The 2019 award recipient is Harley Lemkuil from Specialty Cheese. Specialty Cheese Inc. first partnered with Moraine Park, as a boot camp internship site, in 2019. Since then, under the leadership of Lemkuil, they have created additional partnerships with the College including machining onsite training and participation in the EWD’s podcast. Lemkuil is always looking for ways to help provide resources to improve the lives of employees including a rideshare program, training in Spanish and English, and child care services. Additionally, Lemkuil is exploring having onsite English Language Learner (ELL) classes. The College recognized Harley in a virtual setting.
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
*In person photos were taken prior to the statewide mandate.*
Strengthening community impact is a strategic priority at MPTC.
Connecting the college and community for the goals of fostering collaboration and connectivity among business, alumni and community partners, increases the visibility of the college impact to the communities we serve. Moraine Park students and employees are also helping fulfill community needs, sharing their time and talent, connecting and volunteering to help and improve the communities where we live, work and go to school.
Since we started tracking the volunteer and service learning hours that students and staff submitted we have now reached over 8,000 hours with an economic impact throughout the MPTC district of over $200,000. Way to go!
Moraine Park Technical College is one of five Wisconsin Technical College System colleges to receive a five-year, $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue its Student Support Services (SSS) program.
The SSS program, also known as EDGE at Moraine Park, seeks to help students who are low-income, first-generation to college and/or have a learning disability, with a purpose to help students meet their goals and graduate from college. The EDGE program offers many services to help students stay on track, including academic advising, financial aid, and scholarship resources, cultural events, skills development, and tutoring. All services are provided to eligible students at no cost. This is the third consecutive grant received for Moraine Park’s EDGE program.
Since the program began in 2010, it has served over 430 students. Currently, the program serves 140 active students at the College and has proven to be a gateway to success for eligible students.
“First-generation to college, low income, and disabled students face unique challenges to completing college degrees, and SSS TRIO programs like EDGE help students overcome those obstacles to be successful,” Kristina Buchanan, director of EDGE at Moraine Park, said. “I am honored to be able to help our students each year – their stories of courageous persistence and success in the face of incredible odds is inspiring.”
In the 2018-19 academic year, EDGE students achieved a 94% persistence rate, 91% good academic standing rate, 54% degree completion rate, and 20% of students transferred on to higher education opportunities after earning their degree.
“When I first joined EDGE, I had no idea how amazing this program would be,” Jessica Reinke, Moraine Park student, said. “College is hard, but EDGE has made my college experience more attainable, achievable, and less worrisome. I’m going to school for nursing and have many classes to study for. I wish everyone could have and know the value of this program that MPTC offers. It is truly amazing.”
For more information on the Edge program, visit morainepark.edu/trio.
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