Meet Larry Clark, welding, metal fab, and fabrication technologies program instructor. He has been with the College for 18 years and worked in the welding industry prior.
“The last job I had required me to teach most new hires,” Larry said. “When their business got slow, I thought I would try to give back to my field and show other people how to do what I had learned.”
Bruce Forciea, anatomy and physiology instructor at Moraine Park, has had a career journey that has taken him around the world.
Early on in his career, he was an international ice skating coach and a director of skating programs in both the United States and Australia. He later worked as an electrical engineering technician, and then went to college and become a Chiropractor.
“While working in my chiropractic practice, I began presenting at seminars and found that I love teaching,” Bruce said. “One of my patients was a dean at MATC and asked if I would be interested in teaching at the College.”
Bruce eventually left his practice to pursue teaching full-time. He has been with Moraine Park for 16 years, and his worldly experiences have made him the knowledgeable leader and mentor that he is today.
“I feel my life calling is to help others,” Bruce said. “It is rewarding to see students develop the ability to understand complex material, and I love discovering new ways to teach using technology.”
Bruce works to keep the Moraine Park on the forefront of teaching technology. He led the College in implementing an Anatomage Table.This comprehensive 3D tool allows students the opportunity to see all aspects of the human body on a virtual screen. It is now used college-wide by many of the health science classes. Technology like this also allows Bruce to keep his teaching methods fresh each semester.
“I really enjoy helping students learn the difficult content in my courses,” Bruce said. “I find it a real challenge to break down difficult concepts and present them in a way that is as simple as possible without lowering the rigor.”
It is this exact drive and motivation that makes Bruce a staple at Moraine Park’s West Bend Campus, and an inspirational instructor for many students.
“I think of every semester as a challenge to teach the best course I possibly can. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t, but the point is to continue to try and never give up.”
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
**Fun Fact** Bruce has also written six books, both non-fiction and fiction. You can find those here!
Meet our business analyst (BA) instructor, Jo Ann Giese-Kent!
Jo Ann grew up in Campbellsport but now resides just outside of Fond du Lac with her husband Tim (a Moraine Park Alumnus), her teenage daughter, Ashlee, and her furry feline friends Pepper and Lilly.
Prior to her current role, she worked as the VP of business intelligence and entrepreneurship for the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation. During this time, she also served as an adjunct instructor, teaching small business classes for Moraine Park’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) department.
“I received my bachelor’s degree in business administration majoring in marketing in the early ’90s,” Jo Ann said. “When I interned as a market researcher at a paper company, I discovered I liked the analytical side of marketing. Throughout my career, I have done all aspects of marketing but felt the most comfortable with analysis from analyzing customer segments’ behavior and needs to analyzing processes or other business needs and recommending solutions to deliver more value to customers or internal stakeholders. I’ve done analysis type work in several industries including direct marketing (catalog business), banking, higher education, and economic development.”
Jo Ann worked in Moraine Park’s Institutional Research department from 2000-2009 and returned to Moraine Park in August of 2017 as the full-time BA instructor.
“I enjoy working with students and sharing my experiences,” Jo Ann said. “When I heard about the new BA program instructor position, I was very interested. I am grateful that I was offered the job! Instead of being behind-the-scenes researching and understanding our students, I now can have a direct impact on their learning and success.”
The number one reason why someone should consider a career as a business analyst is that they are in high demand across many industries. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers throughout the United States will need 861,400 management analysts (which includes the business analyst title) by 2024. In Wisconsin, employers will need 13,151 by 2024. That’s a growth of 14%, almost double compared to all occupations nationally. As a plus, an experienced analyst can earn $71,230 as the median annual wage.
“Employees who do business analysis have many different titles and roles,” Jo Ann said. “Most have the business analyst title but could also have titles such as systems analyst, process analyst, database analyst, market research analyst, supply chain analyst, and many others. They primarily help identify business needs, solve problems to produce better business outcomes, and help organizations add value to customers, suppliers, or end users of a process, or system. They are known as the liaison or agent to enable that change to occur.”
The online BA program teaches the fundamental knowledge areas, tasks, and techniques needed to be successful in the business analysis field.
Outside of the College, you can find Jo Ann enjoying time her yard planting and landscaping. You might even catch her at a heavy metal concert.
“I’m more of a quiet and reserved person. Some people find it surprising that I love hard rock and heavy metal music,” Jo Ann said. “At this year’s Rock USA, I won a hand-painted, autographed Dean guitar!”
Thank you, Jo Ann, for your devotion to Moraine Park and the BA program. For more information, visit morainepark.edu/programs.
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.
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
There are 7.442 billion people in this world, 6,500 languages, and 4,200 different religions. Our world is full of diversity, yet most will experience very little of it in their lifetime.
Did you know that 70% of patients in need of a life-saving stem cell transplant are unable to find a perfect donor match within their family?
Be The Match helps to find donors for these patients that are in need, and between November 5 and November 9, Moraine Park can help with their mission!
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CNC/Tool and Die Technology students recently completed 6 weeks of Soft Skills sessions with Lisa Ferguson, Careers Instructor on the West Bend Campus, as part of their CNC Controls classes with CNC Instructors, Jim Hokensen and Craig Seidl. The sessions enforced the importance of Soft Skills in the workplace and were centered on Wisconsin’s Critical Core Manufacturing Skills (CCMS). What started four years ago, as part of the Career Pathways grant, is still in place today as part of this collaboration.
Soft Skill sessions included: Soft Skills and why are they are important, DISC Assessment, Positive Attitude, FISH, Communication Skills (including non-verbal communication skills) and Team Building/Problem Solving. Students participated in interactive activities for each session.
Representatives from business and industry have identified skills that are essential to success in manufacturing. Students are expected to demonstrate the Critical Core Manufacturing Skills (CCMS) throughout all manufacturing classes. These skills include work cooperatively, work productively, listen effectively, demonstrate a positive attitude, maintain a safe work environment, demonstrate integrity, communicate clearly, follow directions, apply problem solving strategies, apply mathematical reasoning, think critically and adapt to change.
Moraine Park Careers Instructors assist with Soft Skills in addition to Career Assessment (DISC, MBTI, Strong Interest Inventory, and EDITS), Job Seeking/Employability Skills (Job Search, Résumés, Cover Letters, and Interviewing) and more.
Career Center class schedules are available at: www.morainepark.edu/careers
Moraine Park Careers Instructors
Rhonda Roehrig (Fond du Lac Campus) – 920-924-3244 | rroehrig2@morainepark.edu
Kim Braatz (Beaver Dam Campus) – 920-887-4437 | kbraatz1@morainepark.edu
Lisa Ferguson (West Bend Campus) – 262-335-5773 | lferguson@morainepark.edu
(Pictured are CNC Students building marshmallow towers as part of a team building challenge.)
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
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