Moraine Park Technical College student, Austin Seidel of West Bend, earned third place at the 2021 National SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference during the week of June 21.
Seidel, an electricity student at the College, competed at the regional conference last April in the Industrial Motor Controls category. He earned first place- advancing him to nationals. More than 16,000 students from across the nation participated in the weeklong event.
SkillsUSA is the showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation. Their philosophy is to reward students for excellence, involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and keep training relevant to employers’ needs.
Moraine Park instructor, Gus Boyle-Gustavus, has been named a 2020-2021 Educator of Promise. This qualification has awarded her the opportunity to participate in the Educator Leadership Rendezvous this July.
This event is offered annually by the Wisconsin Army National Guard (WI ARNG), the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), and Wisconsin Association for Middle Level Education (WAMLE). The three-day leadership retreat is designed to engage Educators of Promise to build leadership skills and strategies, connect with educators across the state, and learn how to uplift teacher voice and leadership in their roles.
Participants will learn through hands-on activities and leadership labs about topics such as:
military life, and especially the lives of military families and children in our schools
common leadership lessons and scenarios
building culture and community
applying leadership to problem-solving, to improve student outcomes, schools, and communities
the effects on us all of PK-12 academic and career planning, equity and trauma-informed decision-making, and college and career readiness
Curricular connections to classrooms, including STEM, Social Studies, and history
Professional networking and relationship-building that live on far beyond the event
“I am hoping to learn more about leadership skills in a college setting, inside and outside the classroom,” Gus said. “I am especially looking forward to learning more about how to connect with, and uplift, the lives of military families and underprivileged students. I am always looking to better myself, just as most instructors are. I’m looking forward to doing this by connecting with other educator’s, outside of Moraine Park, and learning a tremendous amount of information from them. I want to learn how to help build a stronger sense of culture and community at Moraine Park. I believe Moraine Park is an amazing place to work. How do I help get others to believe this?”
Congratulations Gus on your commitment to education, leadership and Moraine Park! We look forward to hearing about your experience at the Educator Leadership Rendezvous.
We all have goals of living independently and being self-sufficient but often obstacles and challenges get in our way. After successful participation in a combination of virtual and in person instruction due to Covid, two students were able to celebrate completion of a 2-year Learning for Independence (LFI) Program, moving them one step closer to meeting their goal of independence.
Learning for Independence is a cooperative transition program offered in partnership by Fond du Lac Area High Schools and Moraine Park Technical College. The students ranging in ages from 18- 21 years of age, have a documented disability and are current students at various Fond du Lac County High Schools. “It is inspiring watching the transformation from the first day our LFI students set foot on the MPTC campus to the completion ceremony two years later! Our students arrive as high school seniors and leave as confident adults with life skills and plans to continue with their present job or pursue new employment or enroll in classes to pursue a certification or degree at technical college. This amazing program would not be possible without the great partnerships of MPTC, Fond du Lac Economic and Workforce Development, the Fond du Lac Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, surrounding Fond du Lac County Schools and the School District of North Fond du Lac!” states Chris Schultz, LFI Program Director.
“When students start their LFI experience, they are anxious, excited and ready to embrace the program. During their two years, they meet students from different high schools and become friends quickly. They start to become a close group and help each other when needed. Their confidence levels and self-advocacy skills are completely turned around and almost mastered! The skills learned from each class will be ones they will be able to use when out living independently. At their completion ceremony each student speaks about what they learned, what they liked about the LFI program, and where they see themselves in five years. This is quite a transformation and all the instructors, people at MPTC, Chris Schultz and myself are so proud of all of them. We send them out with a job lined up, or already employed, and some have gone on to attend MPTC.”, states Jo Marchionda, LFI Coordinator and Instructor.
In person classes will be starting again in fall. For additional information on the LFI program or applications for enrollment, please contact Chris Schultz, School District of North Fond du Lac, at cschultz@nfdlschools.org or call 920-929-3750 ext 6143.
Moraine Park Technical College has selected the Department of Corrections- Taycheedah Correctional Institution (TCI), as the recipient of the 2020 Innovation award. The College’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) presents five Business and Industry partnership awards each fiscal year; Excellence in Partnership, Employer of the Year, Innovation, New Partner of the Year, and Workforce Development Champion.
The Innovation Award is given to an organization that implemented an innovative solution to a workforce challenge. Jason Lederhaus, education director at TCI, continuously promotes educational opportunities for the incarcerated women at their facility. Lederhaus continued to advocate for the women in the welding cohort when COVID-19 created many restrictions and created a plan to allow them to safely complete their welding program. Additionally, the welding program became approved as a pre-apprenticeship program with Department of Workforce Development (DWD). Lederhaus has advocated for two new programs at TCI. These innovative solutions create real opportunities to enter the workforce in high demand fields upon release from TCI. The College recognized TCI and Lederhaus during a small gathering at TCI in late May.
The second-year culinary students were challenged with their own episode of “Chopped”. Ok, it wasn’t quite that intense, but we were given a handful of mandatory ingredients, a list of available ingredients, and some staples deemed “pantry ingredients”. The rules were simple: prepare four courses or, in my case, five tapas, within three hours to be served to judges within a half hour period immediately following the preparation. The four mandatory ingredients had to be used somewhere in the courses and each course had to include at least one of the available ingredients. The mandatory ingredients were: beef chuck, green curry paste or chamoy, rutabaga, and chocolate.
Each of the mandatory ingredients had their own challenges. Beef chuck has a lot of connective tissue so is most often cooked low and slow. We were allowed to get around this in a couple of different ways – some students chose to smoke the meat or use the sous vide (knocking off a few minutes from their three-hour time slot). Green curry paste and chamoy are both very strong flavors. Rutabaga is, well, rutabaga. It actually was the easiest to incorporate and the students came up with several interesting ideas including shredded in slaw, hashbrowns, The chocolate needed to be used in one of the courses other than dessert.
The one big way the challenge differed from Chopped was that we could practice the recipes and the timing in the weeks before the final. Thank goodness – during my first practice, I wasn’t even close on getting the five tapas done in the time frame allowed. I’m clearly not ready for prime-time! During my second week of practice, I was able to complete all of my tapas (although not exactly within three hours). Keep in mind that any bread items need to be created from scratch. For me, this was a tart crust and tortillas.
The biggest snafu was my pineapple cake. I took a tried-and-true recipe, cut it in half, and attempted cupcakes. I did need to use fresh pineapple instead of canned, but otherwise it was just the measurement adjustments. The cupcakes DID NOT WORK. The sugar content caused them to bubble over and collapse. Interestingly, they were delicious! Kind of like caramelized pineapple. With the instructor’s guidance, I decided to just go with it. I topped it with a goat cheese (available ingredient) frosting and candied pistachios (pantry) for a topping. In a word: yum.
Each student came up with unique ideas that were very well received by the judges. It was one of my favorite challenges so far.
Beau Gelllings, MPTC EWD Business Representative, demonstrates a fun metal welding cube puzzle to Jackson BGC teens using a blueprint drawing of directions for building the cube.
This summer, teens from the Fond du Lac, Tri-County, and Jackson Boys and Girls Clubs will be learning about various careers through the MPTC Dream Big community service project.
The Dream Big project started in 2017 with area BGC teens visiting MPTC or MPTC students visiting the Clubs each semester to help teens learn more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC. This past year, due to COVID, no visiting was possible. The MPTC Student Community Impact Team, in partnership with faculty leaders, came up with a plan to offer summer career exploration of welding, blueprint reading, cosmetology, and culinary through interactive videos with fun hands on activities.
Dream Big is a great community partnership opportunity to showcase MPTC careers and for area teens to get excited about career choices! Tri-County Boys and Girls Club Director of Operations Mindy Collado said, “We are so excited for these Dream Big opportunities! Thanks for stopping in today and delivering all the goodies. The teens already had a lot of fun and I am sure we will get good use out of the careers materials all throughout this summer! Thank you MPTC!”
Moraine Park Technical College has selected Nathan Glander of Wabash National, as the recipient of the 2020 Workforce Development Champion award. The College’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) presents five Business and Industry partnership awards each fiscal year; Excellence in Partnership, Employer of the Year, Innovation, New Partner of the Year, and Workforce Development Champion.
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 influenced workforce issues around recruitment, training, and career development. Glander has been a consistent advocate for the College and the boot camp programs throughout the last year, even when that proved difficult with the pandemic. During the pandemic when others weren’t able to offer internships, he stepped forward to make sure there were internship spots available to provide the students with learning opportunities. In fall 2020, Glander demonstrated his commitment to the College and the program- and provided services as the sole business partnership for the boot camp welders. This semester, Glander has opened nine fulltime positions for the College’s boot camp completers. As a result of his support, students who complete the program have a greater opportunity to obtain fulltime positions in the welding field. Glander was recognized during a small ceremony in late May.
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
College Level Examination Program (CLEP) testing, sponsored by the College Board, allows students to complete exams in a variety of subjects that are generally covered in the first 2 years of college. CLEP Exam results are accepted for college credit at many colleges and universities throughout the United States- including MPTC.
MPTC has a CLEP Testing Center which allows students, as well as our community members, to take the exams at any of the College campuses.
Now through August 31, 2021, students can save 50% when they register for another CLEP exam.
How to get the discount:
Students must have taken another CLEP exam this year (or do so by August 31, 2021).
During registration, students enter code CLEPSUMMER at checkout to receive 50% off one exam. (Code is valid from June 1, 2021 through August 31, 2021.)
For more information about Moraine Park’s CLEP guidelines, contact MPTC’s Credit for Prior Learning Specialist at cpl@morainepark.edu or 920-924-3215, TTY/VP: Use Relay/VRS.
Moraine Park Technical College has selected the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), as the recipient of the 2020 New Partner of the Year award. The College’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) presents five Business and Industry partnership awards each fiscal year; Excellence in Partnership, Employer of the Year, Innovation, New Partner of the Year, and Workforce Development Champion.
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. Moraine Park Technical College, in partnership with The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Bureau for Drinking & Groundwater, worked to develop and conduct three online training courses comprised of four training modules to aid the DNRs Water Utility Management program. The purpose of these training modules is to increase the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of municipal water systems in Wisconsin, and to help decision-makers at these water systems make informed decisions. These programs are free for participants. This 3-year partnership between Moraine Park and the DNR is a first of its kind in Wisconsin, and its structure paves the way for future training opportunities. In addition, the College supports continuing education training for certified operators of small public drinking water systems and provides 55 continuing education courses around the state each year.
The College presented the award during a virtual ceremony on May 27.
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
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