The 2019-20 school year saw Moraine Park establish and present its inaugural Employee Community Engagement Awards.

In all, seven employees were recognized, with recipients earning gold, silver and bronze awards. “The goal of community engagement at Moraine Park is to make an impact on and give back to our communities, and to build and grow partnerships within our communities,” said Judy Urben, communications manager for the College. “We were very pleased to be able to present this award to a solid group of employees in just our first year.”

Award winners were announced in May 2020 with awards presented in fall. “Being engaged with your community is rewarding and a great way to give back,” said Brenda Raad, dean of General Studies, who received the Gold Award. “I appreciate working for an employer that encourages community engagement. My service has given me the opportunity to grow as a leader and has served as the impetus for many mutual collaborations between MPTC, the YMCA, Froedtert Health, and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets.”

The following MPTC employees received awards at the designated levels based on hours earned from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019:

• Gold – 100-199 Hours:  Brenda Raad, Dean of General Studies
• Silver – 50-99 Hours:  Bradley Mitchell, Recruiter; Anne Lemke, Student Community Impact Coordinator; Amy Wiedmeyer, Disability Resources Specialist
• Bronze – 25-49 Hours: Donna Freund, Payroll Manager; Kim Spartz, Admin Assistant, Health & Human Services; Rachel Tease, Basic Ed Instructor.

Feature photo caption: MPTC employees were awarded for their 2019 Employee Community Engagement efforts. Pictured left to right are Steve Pepper, Community Engagement cross functional team member and award presenter; Kim Spartz, Admin Assistant, Health & Human Services, Bronze; Anne Lemke, Student Community Impact Coordinator, Silver; Donna Freund, Payroll Manager, Bronze; Brenda Raad, Dean of General Studies, Gold.

As we see so often during difficult times, people always find ways to keep a light shining by helping others.

Such is the case at Moraine Park Technical College. With the coronavirus continuing its grip on local communities, our nation and the world, the College is doing what they can to help.

Nearly 37,000 healthcare and safety-related supplies, including N-95 masks; disposable gloves and gowns; surgical gowns, hats and shoe covers; face shields and more, were collected from each of the College’s campuses – Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac and West Bend – and have been donated to local healthcare facilities in those communities including Marshfield Medical Center (formerly Beaver Dam Community Hospital), Froedtert and SSM/St. Agnes.

The healthcare supplies came from several of the College’s more than 60-plus programs, including:  Associate Degree Nursing, Nursing Assistant, Respiratory Therapy, Surgical Technologist, EMS and Cosmetology.

The College is also loaning respirators SSM/St. Agnes according to Barb Jascor, Moraine Park’s dean of health and human services.

“In addition to the need for healthcare and safety supplies, we were also seeing an ever-increasing need for ventilators,” said Jascor. “We wanted to do what we could to help and it made sense to loan our ventilators in advance, as a precautionary measure, should the local need for ventilators surpass current capacity of our community health care partners.”

For COVID-19 updates at Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu/coronavirus.

Envision Fond du Lac’s 2020 Career Connections, held January 7, 8, 9, officially wrapped up Tuesday evening with a debrief meeting encompassing school, business and MPTC representatives. The overwhelming consensus from the committee was that “year four was the best Career Connections yet!”  Presenters offered more interactive sessions than ever before, student movement from room to room was smooth, and some minor tweaks to the welcome sessions created the positive results the committee had hoped for.

Of course, none of these successes would have been possible without all of you! We had more than 100 MPTC employees fill 190 timeslots, which included welcoming presenters, guiding students to their assigned rooms and ensuring students got safely to their buses. If you were one those 100-plus – thank you, thank you!

A special thank you also goes out to our housekeeping staff for their efforts with room set up and take down, to our instructional technology staff who ensured room technology was ready to go, and to our facilities staff who helped in so many various ways!

So, again, we say “thank you” for helping Moraine Park ensure those who entered our doors during those three days, left our college with a new appreciation for what we have to offer.

Take a look at Career Connections 2020 “By the Numbers!”

·         3 Days – January 7, 8, 9

·         2,100 7^th and 8^th Grade students

·         6 School Districts

·         7 Private Schools

·         65-plus area businesses

·         130 area business presenters (including several MPTC faculty)

·         80-plus career areas highlighted

·         100-plus MPTC employees

·         10 Envision Greater Fond du Lac Team members

For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.

Growing up in a small town, going to the county fair was something my friends and I always looked forward to! It was the place nearly everyone from the community gathered to check out a child, friend or neighbor’s 4-H project, listened to music or visited the barns to see animals.  

This year, Moraine Park was proud to be a fair sponsor at three of the counties that make up the MPTC District. Moraine Park Day at the Washington County Fair was a lot of fun and gave us a chance to engage with young and old alike. Visitors were able to spin the Diversity Wheel for prizes, (Did you know more than 22 different languages are spoken at our three campuses?), talk to our Veterans Specialist, try their skills on our virtual welder, play a game of bags or share a high five with MPTC mascot, Maximus!  

We were thrilled that Alex Prunty, 2018 Slinger Speedway Super Late Model Champion, and MPTC alumnus, hung out with us for the day with his #11 race car. Visitors were able get Alex’s autograph, collect some APR swag and even get inside his car! Alex was a big hit!  

We also were pleased to sponsor the tractor and demo derby at the Green Lake County Free Fair and the Pig, Duck and Goat races at one of three Family Stages at the Dodge County Fair. That’s the best thing about a county fair – there’s fun for everyone! If you were at any of these three fairs, I hope you were able to stop by our booth and say hello, or enjoy the great entertainment these community events have to offer. We were glad to be able to be a part of it!

Getting engaged in their community, all while having fun, was what some Moraine Park employees recently did, as they took part in the 2019 FDL Literacy Services Team Trivia fundraising event.

Melissa Koppenhaver, Erika Lloyd, Kristine Buchanan and Sarah Nett, aka the Moraine Park Quad Squad, earned a strong 3^rd place overall finish. The Quad Squad answered questions ranging from movies, sports, Wisconsin trivia, history, and more. What put the team over the edge was answering the bonus question:  Which Impressionist painter’s grandson was an academy-award nominated film director? The answer:  Pierre Auguste Renoir.  A big “Woot! Woot!” on getting that one correct!

“We had so much fun supporting FDL Literacy and MPTC,” said Lloyd, who brought along a little extra team support with a stuffed Maximus mascot.

MPTC’s Basic Ed area also took part in the fun. The Moraine Park Trivia Crushers team was made up of Kathy Mueller, Deb Schuh, Jamie Russell and Pete Snyder.