Promoting growth and self-improvement is at the core of Moraine Park’s mission. International student Barbara Turner immediately identified this and set her sights on being a Moraine Park student.

Barbara, a current resident of Beaver Dam, came to the College from Israel. She first toured Moraine Park in the summer of 2015, when she was visiting Wisconsin to explore educational options.

“Obtaining a quality education is one of my top priorities,” Barbara said. “My parents are both highly educated and instilled in me the value of having a degree.”

She is no stranger to hard work. In Israel, she served in the army for two years and then worked in the quality control field. She was exploring local academic resources when she found the opportunity to study internationally.

“Moraine Park was an easy choice for me,” Barbara said. “There are multiple programs to choose from, the location is convenient, and the pricing is extremely reasonable.”

Since arriving in 2016, she hasn’t stopped exploring her opportunities and takes each experience as an invitation to grow and improve. She has benefited from the support of the Student Success Center and Moraine Park counselor, Karla Donahue, who has helped with her transition to life in the United States and at Moraine Park.

Barbara has also made quite an impact on her classmates and instructors at the College.

“It has been fun to watch her advance,” Mary Vogl-Rausher, an instructor at Moraine Park said. “There have been significant challenges she has had to overcome, but she always has a smile on her face. Her warm personality draws others to her.”

For these reasons and more, Barbara was selected as the 2019-20 Moraine Park District Student Ambassador. In this role, she will actively serve as a member of student government, advocate for Moraine Park and the Wisconsin Technical College System as a whole, assist with College activities and events, and represent the student body within the community.

“It is an extreme honor,” Barbara said. “I look forward to making more connections and networking with my community and peers.”

For more information, visit morainepark.edu.

Give blood and help save lives! Moraine Park’s business empowerment and team building club will be hosting an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Monday, February 18.

The event will be held from 9:30 a.m.to 2 p.m., in room K-201 at the Beaver Dam Campus. Make an appointment by visiting redcrossblood.org.

Donors will receive a Red Cross We Challenge U T-shirt while supplies last!

For more information on the blood drive, email Marla Werner at mwerner8@morainepark.edu.

For more information on clubs and events at Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.

On Tuesday, December 18, Danielle Barron and Debbie Applebee, students from the MPTC Health and Wellness Program,  visited teens in grades 5-12 at the Tri-County Boys and Girls Club in Berlin, for a fun two hour interactive Dream Big event.

Tri-County Boys and Girls Club Teen Futures Coordinator, Carrie Govek said, “This was a wonderful experience for our teens!  Besides finding out more on health and wellness careers, they learned about healthy drinks and how much sugar is in many of the drinks they love, like sports drinks and soda. They even got to have a fun Tic Tac Toe relay race! Our Club is really stressing healthy lifestyles with exercise and healthy eating, so this was a perfect learning opportunity! After the teen event was finished, the elementary kids even got to sample the delicious fruit infused water the students brought to share. Thank you MPTC!”   Danielle and Debbie both told the teens about personal, family and friends health related journeys that inspired them to pursue a career in health and wellness and how the associate degree at MPTC is the perfect fit, where they are learning how to coach and teach healthy lifestyles and earning certifications all along the way to graduate with a career that has many job opportunities!

The Dream Big project started last year with Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac teens learning more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC.  This year, Dream Big is expanding throughout the MPTC district to include Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area (Berlin, Green Lake County) and Boys and Girls Club of Washington County (West Bend).  This is a great community partnership opportunity for Moraine Park students to showcase their careers and practice service learning  and for Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about career choices!

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

On Wednesday, December 5, MPTC Welding Instructor Aide Dan Eldridge, Welding Bootcamp Student Amy Mann, and EWD Business Rep Beau Gellings, visited teens in grades 5-12 and staff from the Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area for a fun two hour interactive Dream Big event.

“MPTC visited our Club to talk about different educational options and career opportunities  in welding and allowed us to get hands on experience with the virtual welding equipment! 15 teen Club members tried it out and asked lots of questions.  Members earned scores for their welding performance based on 5 different measurements that make a good weld. There was some serious competition!  It was a fun and educational evening that may have lit some sparks for our kids!  Thank you MPTC!” – Carrie Govek, Tri-County BGC Teen Futures Coordinator 

“I was wondering if the kids would understand what a great opportunity it would be to get introduced to a welding career by having fun on the virtual welder, just like a computer game!  It’s very exciting for me to give back after all I have received through MPTC and the boot camp!” – Amy Mann, Moraine Park welding intern

 “It was really great tonight for me to see our student become the teacher.  I saw her giving the kids the exact same instructions we gave her when she was a beginning welder just 3 months ago. We are so proud of her!” – Dan Eldridge, welding instructor aide

Dan also told us that Amy just got offered at job at MEC, where she was serving her internship. 

The Dream Big project started last year with Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac teens learning more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC.  This year, Dream Big is expanding throughout the MPTC district to include Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area (Berlin, Green Lake County) and Boys and Girls Club of Washington County (West Bend).  This is a great community partnership opportunity for Moraine Park students to showcase their careers and practice service learning  and for Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about career choices!

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

In November, Campus Compact brought together over 150 students from across the United States, including our own MPTC Newman Civic Fellow Queenie Weesen!  The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes and supports the next generation of public problem solvers.  MPTC is SO proud to have our student earning this national recognition and participating in this important work!  Read Queenie’s award story here.

Campus Compact advances the public purpose of over 1,000 colleges and universities across the U.S., deepening their ability to improve community life and educate students for civic and social responsibility.  At the national conference, students gathered at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate.  Students participated in small group world cafe activities, changemaker conversations, Senate immersion modules, and Organizing for Positive Change workshops.  Queenie returned excited and empowered to continue all her good work her at MPTC and in her home community.

“It was very inspiring to meet so many students motivated to change the world!”

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

Click here to vies more conference photos.

Moraine Park’s Donut Club, located out of the Beaver Dam campus, held a clothing drive in early November to benefit The Caring Closet of Dodge County, which is operated by Dodge County Health and Human Services. The group collected more than 40 large boxes and bags of clothing, shoes, winter gear, and personal items. These donations will be available to teenage foster children entering a new home, and to others in severe need.

The Donut Club will like to thank those who donated to The Caring Closet of Dodge County 2018 Clothing Drive.

The Donut Club works on community service projects throughout the semester. In addition to the clothing drive, the group volunteered at the Beaver Dam campus Blood Drive this fall, and in December they are planning to participate as bell-ringers for the Salvation Army.

“Donut Feel Good to Help Others?”

For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu

Make your dreams of working in healthcare come true!

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                                                 POW/MIA Recognition Day, September 21, 2018

National POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Recognition Day is September 21 (annually the third Friday in September) and I thought this would be a great opportunity to provide some of the history on the flag you may have seen featuring a silhouette of an individual before a guard tower and barbed wire in white on a black field with the words “You Are Not Forgotten”.

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Moraine Park Technical College has presented the Fond du Lac Senior Center with its 2018 Community Partnership Award. This award recognizes a community non-profit organization or business partner who has gone above and beyond in their role of working with Moraine Park students in service-learning opportunities.

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