On February 28, six students were recognized for their contribution of building a bench which was donated to Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC). In fall 2018, the students took on a new project in their Learning for Independence (LFI) Home Repair class of building benches. After creating four benches, the class decided to donate one to MPTC. The bench is located at the entrance of the Integrated Manufacturing Center in the Moraine Park trades wing.
The students attended the Home Repair class as part of the Learning for Independence program. The LFI program is a cooperative transition program offered in partnership by Fond du Lac Area High Schools and Moraine Park Technical College. The students range in age from 18- 21 years, participate in coursework in a college environment allowing them to improve social, communication and self-determination skills. Throughout the 2 years of classes, students increase their workplace readiness skills through exposure to technology, finance, manufacturing, customer service, child care and many other areas.
On May 16, family, friends and instructors will gather as the six students are recognized during a completion ceremony held at the Moraine Park Fond du Lac campus. We wish the students well as they pursue their future endeavors.
Classes will be starting again in fall 2019. For additional information on the LFI program or applications for enrollment, please contact Chris Schultz at cschultz@nfdlschools.org or call 920-929-3750, extension 6143.
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
Like to drive, want to see the country? Having a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Learners Permit can
help you gain a new career in the trucking industry.
Be ready to go.
The demand for truck drivers is increasing. Driving a
school bus, passenger vehicle, dump truck, freight carrying truck, or being
licensed to tow a double or triple trailer could be yours, but you must first
pass the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) knowledge exam and obtain your CDL Commercial Learners Permit (CLP). Whether
you want to drive statewide, regionally, across the country or stay close to
home, passing the CDL knowledge exam is the first step to a new career.
Are you independent, hardworking, adventurous and love a challenge? Want to explore America? If you answered yes, then becoming a trucker may be right for you.
If you have a valid Wisconsin Driver’s License and an
acceptable driving record, Moraine Park Technical College can help you take
that first step towards a career driving. Our 15 hour classroom course, will introduce
you to the trucking industry, familiarize you with the different written exams,
background and medical information and prepare
you to pass the CDL knowledge exam required whether you
plan to apply for a CLASS A, B or C license.
Once you pass the CDL knowledge exam you will be issued a
Commercial Learners Permit. You may operate a commercial motor vehicle as
indicated on your permit with another person licensed to drive the same type of
vehicle.
Make an investment in your future today. In as little as one week, we can prepare you to pass the knowledge exam. Get started by enrolling in the March or April class.
March 11-14 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (5:00-8:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 14 only) Fond du Lac Campus, Room B-109 CRN 31155
or
April 8-11 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (5:00-8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 11 only) West Bend Campus, Room L-159 CRN 31156
Disclaimer: Moraine Park does not provide vehicles to practice on.
Are you aware that over one-third of households in WI struggle to afford basic necessities?*
Moraine Park Technical College is excited to host national speakers, Terie Dreussi-Smith and Ruth Weirich, from aha! Process, Inc., to help bridge the gap and provide a better understanding of poverty in our communities and workplaces to assist with retention, productivity, and engagement in entry-level workers. This two-day summit will be held on March 12 and 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The event will consist of a Bridges out of Poverty and Workplace Stability workshop to learn how to achieve workplace stability for entry-level employee retention and performance. These sessions will help us recognize the signs of poverty and the range of factors that create instability for our employees, and see how instability, employee performance, and profitability are related.
Employers have come to understand diversity in terms of age, race, and gender – now they need to understand it in terms of socioeconomic class. The income and resource gap is a growing divide in workplace culture, causing missed opportunities from miscommunications to separations, as well as lost productivity, promotion, and profit.
“Viewing a diverse workforce through the lens of economic class allows a company to create more stability for team members and for the business, which results in higher retention, higher productivity, more engagement, and increased profits.” – Ruth K. Weirich, Workplace Stability, p. 129
Did you also know that 27% of households in the MPTC district fall below the ALICE level? ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed; it’s a way for defining men and women who work hard, earn above the federal poverty level, but still not enough to afford a basic household budget.*
With that being said, are you aware of the hidden rules, culture, and range of factors that contribute to the instabilities in poverty? Workplace instability issues have an impact on employee retention and performance across all industries. We are hoping these sessions will raise awareness and give you the tools to provide open lines of communication with your employees, ultimately creating higher employee retention.
Bridges out of Poverty will use the lens of economic class
to provide concrete tools and strategies for a community to alleviate
poverty. The Bridges out of Poverty and
Workplace Stability sessions will provide tools and strategies for you to:
Recognize the signs of poverty
Understand the culture of poverty
Recognize the range of factors that create
instability for employees
See how instability, employee performance and
profitability are related
Event details: March 12 & 13, 2019 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts Fond du Lac, WI
Moraine Park Technical College held its seventh Strategy, Alignment, Talent (STRAT) 2.0 program graduation ceremony on December 12, 2018, at the Fond du Lac campus.
The STRAT 2.0
program was developed by Moraine Park’s Economic and Workforce Development
division and goes beyond the typical training – integrating feedback, stretch assignments,
experiential learning and one-on-one coaching to accelerate individual
performance. Individuals are sponsored by their employers and organizations to
participate in cross-functional development linking strategy and execution to
achieve measureable results within their organizations. Through the
program, students participate in workshops, networking events, professional
coaching and self-assessments to reinforce application of key concepts to
enhance individual and organizational effectiveness.
STRAT teaches participants how to make big-picture management decisions and helps them develop self-awareness as a leader that improve their company’s performance. A local executive sponsor indicated, “STRAT teaches participants how to deal with today’s issues and prepare for tomorrow’s challenges. You need to look at how to put out today’s fires while preventing them in the future.” The program supports companies with their succession planning strategy and developing their talent pipeline for the next level of executives.
The STRAT
2018 participants included Kelly Weninger, Human Resources Manager at A&W
Iron & Metal, Inc.; Shannon Neu, RN Manager at Beaver Dam Community
Hospital; Briana Wagner, Strategic Projects Manager at Grande Cheese; Megan
Pea, Deposit Operations Officer at Horicon Bank; Christopher Stath, Director of
Purchasing and Sales at Sadoff Iron & Metal Company; and Oliver Vogel, IT
Administrator at Spring Valley (not pictured).
2018 STRAT Participants
Registration
is currently in process for the 2019 STRAT session. To register, call
1-800-472-4554 ext. 3449. For more information on the STRAT program visit morainepark.edu/strat.
Talitha is the new WIOA Training Navigator for Moraine Park, stationed on the Beaver Dam campus and part of the Economic and Workforce Development department. In case you are wondering what WIOA stands for, it means Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Talitha’s primary role is to provide various supports for adults with barriers who want to pursue MPTC training programs which help lead them to economic self-sufficiency.
Talitha comes to Moraine Park having spent the last ten years teaching Language Arts at La Follette High School on Madison’s east side. She has also taught AVID for five years, which is a program designed to support students with barriers succeed in high school and prepare for college. While she found profound meaning in her work as a teacher, she was also ready to make a career change and is excited to shift her career to providing individualized supports for motivated adults.
Talitha says she is passionate about the goals of WIOA which align with the amazing work that MPTC is already doing. She believes that by eliminating some of the small financial barriers that prevent many individuals from pursuing education/training, we can help them forge paths out of poverty and dependence on government assistance. Talitha is truly excited for the opportunity to support motivated individuals pursue more stable and meaningful lives, and feels honored to do this work as a member of the MPTC community.
Moraine Park Technical College
held its bi-annual Manufacturing Skills Academy graduation on Thursday,
December 13. The College had 23 students graduate from the program; 10 from the
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist boot camp and 13 from the welding
boot camp.
This program was
designed to combat the skilled worker shortage by offering a variety of boot
camp sessions. The boot camp sessions are free to participants, teach skills
that are unique to a particular pathway, and connect students with area
employers. The program also combines a 144-hour paid internship with
coursework, including Occupational Math, Print Reading, Team Building, Problem
Solving, and program-specific courses. Participating internship sites for this
session were Amerequip Corporation, Apache Stainless, Fives Giddings &
Lewis, Integrity Saw & Tool, Mayville Engineering Company, Metalcraft of
Mayville, Mid States Aluminum, Signicast, Wabash National, and Weasler
Engineering.
Since the induction of these
sessions in 2012, Moraine Park has had 298 students graduate from the welding
and CNC boot camp programs.
Those who
completed the most recent CNC boot camp include: Darlene Anderson of Fond du
Lac, Nicole Busack of West Bend, Robert
Fisher of North Fond du Lac, Ryan Gaus of Fond du Lac, Cory Herrmann of Fond du Lac, Kyle
Jenquine of Fond du Lac, Montgomery Kikkert of Fox Lake, Carissa Metz of
Waupun, Rick Rodriguez of Fond du Lac, and Alex Russart of Fond du Lac.
Those who
completed the welding boot camp include: Brennan Bryan of Fond du Lac, Nita
Cook of Beaver Dam, Jennifer Donahue of Beaver Dam, Jordan Finley of DeForest,
Dave Finn of Fond du Lac, Michelle Flanagan of Plymouth, Casey Hermann of Fond
du Lac, Frank Huber of Juneau, Amy Mann of Fond du Lac, Noah Prost of
Watertown, Cecilia Tovar of Beaver Dam, Jeremiah Vanderkin-Jus of Fond du Lac,
and Brian Wilcox of Fond du Lac.
The graduation
ceremony included speeches from students Busack and Mann.
Busack, a CNC
graduate, is grateful for the experience Moraine Park gave her through the boot
camp program.
“A lot of us have
worked dead end jobs, and didn’t know our hidden potential,” said Busack. “Thanks
to Moraine Park and our instructors, we all have a chance to find it. This has
opened so many doors for a lot of us.”
Busack served her
program internship at Signicast in Hartford and was hired full-time prior to
graduation.
Mann, a welding
graduate, came to Moraine Park in search of a career she could be passionate
about. She completed her internship at Mayille Engineering Company (MEC) and
was also hired on as a full-time employee prior to graduation.
“The boot camp
program taught me that if there’s something I really want to accomplish, I can
do it,” Mann said. “I am standing here today as a welder, a high school
graduate, and a newly hired employee of Mayville Engineering Company.”
Moraine Park’s
Skills Academy boot camps are free to participating students, thanks to grant
dollars from Wisconsin Fast Forward and financial support from area businesses
including Amerequip, Apache Stainless, Elkay Interior Systems, Fives, Integrity
Saw & Tool, Inc., John Deere Horicon Works, John Crane, Mayville
Engineering Company, Midstates Aluminum Corporation, Signicast, SJI/Busse, and
Wabash National.
“We are very
pleased to participate with Moraine Park’s CNC boot camp again this semester,”
Paul Reetz, owner of Ingetrity Saw & Tool, Inc. said. “We have been able to
gain quality employees who are advanced on the learning curve. The
program teaches them to become a valuable member of our company by the time they
become full-time employees at the end of the semester. It’s a rare
win-win-win situation for all involved in the partnership!”
In addition, welding training is also funded,
in part, through a GPR grant that incorporates both Adult Basic Education and
welding. The purpose of this training is to allow students seeking their High
School Equivalency Diploma (HSED), the opportunity to take the welding boot
camp in conjunction. This training opportunity is open to anyone interested in
pursuing their HSED.
Individuals interested
in learning more about the CNC and welding boot camp opportunities are
encouraged to attend a Boot Camp Test Drive event scheduled at Moraine Park’s
Fond du Lac campus on January 23 and 24. Registration is recommended.
Moraine Park’s boot camps are three-month programs that prepare students for a career in welding or computer numerical control (CNC) machining. They aim to combat the current skilled worker shortage in the industry. Without the commitment of our business partners, this training wouldn’t be possible.
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