Aurelio Rosas celebrates his May, 2017 graduation with family.

Aurelio Rosas knew it was time for a change and found great value in Moraine Park Technical College’s Medical Assistant program. “I enrolled in Moraine Park Technical College’s medical programs because I could obtain an affordable and valuable education in a short amount of time. Also, the hands-on learning and the one-to-one interaction with my instructors at Moraine Park was very important and appealing to me. You get to know the instructor and the instructor gets to know you rather than a four-year college where you are with 40-plus students, which can make it difficult to get the instructor’s attention or help.”

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Front Row: Heather Evenson, April Herrera, Kerry DeGroot, Anne Kallas, Dr. Marylou Mercado, Sandra Kirchner, Dr. Andrea Dobogai; Second Row: Michele Mengert, Heidi Martin, Mary Scheuermann, Kelly Shafaie, Chris Frederick; Third Row: Vicki Nelson, Cathy Bosch, Nikki Repp-Butzke, Barb Brown, Melissa Rodriguez, Danyel Giacomini; Fourth Row: Jamie Zwicky, Casey Truse, Karrie Bruegman-May, Heddy Pahnke, Kimberly Mueller, and Laura Glass. Missing from photo: Grace Rommelfanger.

The 2017-18 academic year is coming to a close for the Associate Degree Nursing Program at Moraine Park Technical College. The Nursing team held their final meeting on Friday, May 11, 2018, in Fond du Lac. They gathered for lunch prior to the meeting and shared all the great accomplishments that took place over the year. The team has much to celebrate!

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Don Charleston is the epitome of a Moraine Park success story. He came to the College in 1973 looking for more career opportunities and a better life. At the time, his family was living on his wife’s $4 per hour nursing wage.

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Sue Edminster, SSM Health, Boys & Girls Club of Fond du Lac Board member, presents the Commitment to Kids Award to MPTC President Bonnie Baerwald, Nursing Instructor April Herrera and Experiential Learning Coordinator Anne Lemke

“Congratulations Moraine Park Technical College on the 2018 Commitment to Kids Education Partner Award!  As anyone who works in a non-profit organization knows, partnerships with other local organizations and businesses are what carry you through the good and bad times.  The Boys & Girls Club of Fond du Lac has a great group of local supporters that have provided various levels of dedicated service to our organization.  These organizations and individuals have donated their time, talents, and treasures for anything that we might need. Their willingness to offer their staff, programming, ideas, and financial support have been an invaluable resource for our organization.  ”

Dan Hebel, Chief Executive Officer, Boys & Girls Club of Fond du Lac

 “Over 10 years ago, Mary Alsteens (MPTC retired nursing faculty) set up the partnership with the FDL Boys & Girls Club.  It was set up for the accomplishment of the competency in the class Nursing Health Promotions of teaching at various developmental levels.  Nursing students in second semester set up a time to teach children about a health topic the students choose.  Examples of the topics have been dental hygiene, healthy eating, bullying, helmet safety, and many more.  Students write up a paper discussing the teaching theory they used, how it went, and how they will use the experience to improve future education for children in their nursing role and present their experience to the class at the end of the semester.  Boys & Girls Club kids from each site attend the presentations and bring thank you cards and pictures of their teaching day.  Sometimes the Club kids write special notes and it is a very rewarding experience!”

April Herrera, MSN, RN, CPN, Moraine Park Nursing Instructor

“This spring semester several of our MPTC students in Cosmetology, Medical Assistant, Paramedic, Welding, Criminal Justice and IT programs, had the great opportunity to partner with FDL Boys & Girls Club to teach kids about careers.  I believe Experiential Learning is a key element of a college education, enriching the student experience for greater academic and career success. This experiential service learning opportunity connected our students with a local non-profit partner, cultivating connections and collaboration, and serving community needs, while impacting individual student success.”

Anne Lemke, Experiential Learning Coordinator

To learn more about Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.

Do you remember Hannah Koepp? She was featured in a foundation appeal video in 2016, as a scholarship recipient. You can view the video here.

Hannah’s family had been through some tough times after her mother was diagnosed with cancer, but she had big dreams for herself. The Moraine Park Foundation was able to help Hannah with a scholarship to help her start her schooling. At the time, Hannah was taking her general education courses with hopes of being accepted into the radiologic technologist program.

So, where is she today?

I caught up with the very excited, soon-to-be graduate at the Moraine Park Fond du Lac campus. After she passes her boards this July, she will officially be a radiologic technologist RT(r). She is eager to begin working in the field, to gain some more hands-on experience. She will be able to apply for jobs after graduation.

On May 19, Hannah will walk the Moraine Park stage and accept her diploma. But, she isn’t the only one in her family that is graduating.

“My sister Maddie is graduating from high school and my sister Zoe from middle school,” Koepp said. “It’s a milestone year for all of us.”

There is sure to be a fun Koepp family celebration this summer!

Hannah benefited from two scholarships through the Moraine Park Foundation. These scholarships are available thanks to contributions from generous community donors. And, students like Hannah are exactly who donors want to help, you will find her name on the most recent Dean’s list!

“I am so thankful,” said Koepp. “The scholarship money helped so much and allowed me to focus on my schooling.”

Congratulations Hannah on your upcoming graduation, we wish you success in your career!

For more information on scholarships or how you can help students like Hannah, visit morainepark.edu.

Life is too short not to love what you do. That was the exact mindset that brought Joseph (Joey) Jaeger to Moraine Park Technical College in 2016.

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Moraine Park Technical College’s 2018 Retirement and Service Recognition event on Wednesday, April 11, honored retirees and those who reached service anniversaries during the 2017-18 academic year.

“These individuals have been an essential part in the success of  Moraine Park. They have benefited our organization and the communities that we serve,” said Bonnie Baerwald, president of Moraine Park. “This year we had 97 combined years of service from our retirees and 337 combined years from our staff members that received service recognition awards.”

In all, 8 retirees and 21 staff members were recognized. Retirees included: Chuck Brendel of Sheboygan, associate dean of economic and workforce development; Kenneth Carnahan of Fond du Lac, anatomy and physiology instructor; Lori Erber of Beaver Dam, computer lab software application specialist; Michael Fatla of Plymouth, director of enterprise systems; Sandy Fisher of Fond du Lac, graphic production specialist; Margaret Spieth of West Bend, instructional designer; Fran Stoffel of West Bend, housekeeper; Christine Wagner of Chilton; student support specialist.

Staff members recognized for years of service included Bonnie Baerwald of Fond du Lac, 25 years; Marcia Arndt of Slinger, Lisa Pollard of Fond du Lac, and Edward Meltz of Kewaskum, 20 years.

Moraine Park also recognized 17 employees for service to the College at the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year levels.

To learn more about Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.

Moraine Park staff, faculty and board members; as well as representatives and city officials from Washington County and the City of West Bend, gathered on Monday, April 16 to honor Mike Miller for his many years of service to the College and West Bend community.

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Across the country, there are millions of college students striving to be a better version of themselves. Many of them work, have families and are juggling multiple responsibilities, but still, they have made the commitment to their education. Moraine Park students are no different. In fact, the one thing that all college students could probably all agree on is that college, in general, is far from easy. However, if you walk the hallways of any of the three Moraine Park campuses you will see a robust list of student names on the wall. If you’re wondering, there are 1,163 to be exact. (Yes, I counted.)

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