It is well known that Technical College enrollments are directly correlated to the economy. Strong economy means more people are working and less likely to attend school. During recessionary times it is difficult to find a parking space at any Technical College.

I learned recently that our fall enrollments for our very popular CNC/Tool and Die Technologies Diploma program were low. In fact we have only eight completed applications for a program that can handle 36.
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I was pleased to be the moderator for Week 3 of the “Heroin Highway” lecture series held at Moraine Park’s West Bend campus. This week we heard from Sandy Thompson, whose son died as a result of heroin; Abe Nirschl, an addict in recovery; and Ron Naab, who has been very involved in the Washington County Heroin Task Force. Ron also has a son who is an addict, and recently lost his son’s fiancé to an overdose.
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Part two of the Heroin Highway Lecture Series is in the books.  Once again we had an overflow crowd at Moraine Park’s West Bend Campus Auditorium and once again we had new reminders of the magnitude of this epidemic in Washington County.
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The first lecture in the Heroin Highway series occurred last Thursday evening at Moraine Park’s West Bend Campus. The auditorium was standing room only. We heard first from Detective Mark Sette who gave an overview of the heroin problem in Washington County and the State.

He reminded us that this is an opiate problem. Heroin is the “dirty” word that is used quite often but it all stems from opiates.
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Moraine Park Technical College has been working with the Rotary Club of West Bend, The Washington County Heroin Task Force and Elevate to provide a free lecture series titled “The Heroin Highway.” Connected to the lecture series is a bedroom that was built on our West Bend Campus by Moraine Park carpentry apprenticeship students.

The bedroom’s purpose is to show parents at least 30 different items that might suggest a child is using drugs. Tours, connected with the lecture series, will be made available to participants.

We have been planning this lecture series for over four months and although I was aware of a heroin problem, I didn’t know how horrible the problem was and how difficult it was to overcome.
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