Moraine Park has partnered with the Study Abroad Association to offer virtual global education opportunities for our staff, faculty and students. The Global Perspectives virtual world travel program offers fabulous locations and topics to explore in Costa Rica, Greece, Italy, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland.

You can move around in the 3D world and/or watch travel guide videos for every location. It’s great fun to share with family and friends too!

To use:

1. Go to 360discovered.studyabroadassociation.com/register/, and sign-up with your school email address.
2. Check your school email for your login information.
3. Log in and explore!

Find out more about MPTC Cultural Connections and in-person travel opportunities.

We can’t wait to get back to in-person travel! Our first destination is planned for Fall 2022 in beautiful New Mexico. All MPTC students are encouraged and welcome to apply for this exciting academic adventure.

If you need social science credits toward your degree, this trip is integrated into the Intro to Diversity course for Fall 2022. Taking this course as a social science requirement for your degree will allow you to use your financial aid for travel.

Learn more about this experience at studyabroadassociation.com/itinerary/mptc-new-mexico-2020/, or join us in person or virtually for upcoming information sessions, April 6-7.

For other MPTC travel opportunities, visit morainepark.edu/academics/other-academic-resources/cultural-connections/.

All staff and students are invited to join our MPTC Cultural Connections team for a virtual tropical getaway! Enjoy some Fair Trade chocolate and coffee while you experience a virtual 3D tour of some beautiful and warm tropical locations!

RSVP here to join any of our upcoming dates.

MPTC Cultural Connections is an exciting, fun way to build real world career and life skills, gain self confidence and expand your awareness of diversity, global perspectives, and social responsibility.

If you are unable to join us for the virtual tour dates in person or online, please feel free to explore on your own:

*Sign up at Study Abroad Association here. Make sure to use your MPTC email address.

*Check your email for a confirmation message.

*Log in here to 360 Global Learning

MPTC has a subscription to the Global Perspectives package with over 35 locations to explore! You can access 360 Global Learning with your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. To view locations in 3D try some virtual reality goggles!

Did you know?

*70 percent of cocoa is produced by small holder farmers in West Africa, primarily Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. Indonesia, Brazil, and Ecuador are also major cocoa-producing countries.

*Cocoa trees take about five years to reach peak production and can continue producing at that level for about ten years.

*Chocolate is made from the seeds of cocoa pods, a tree-grown fruit. After harvesting, the seeds are removed from the pods and processed (fermented, dried, then roasted).

*It takes about 500 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate. In an average year, a cocoa tree produces enough fruit to make about two pounds of chocolate.

An estimated two million children work on cocoa farms. Up to 40 percent of these children are not enrolled in school. Many Cocoa farmers are exposed to numerous hazards, including dangerous tools, dust, flames or
smoke, hazardous chemicals, and physically demanding labor. Fair Trade standards prohibit child labor, and community development premiums are often used to improve access to education. Fair Trade standards also prohibit harmful chemicals and provide a framework for environmental sustainability. The Fair Trade minimum price protects farmers against market volatility by ensuring a minimum sale price for their crops.

We love chocolate and other products made with cocoa. It is part of our daily lives. At the same time, many people do not know how tough cocoa farming is, nor do they know the impact of choosing one chocolate bar over another. By choosing chocolate with the Fair Trade logo, you are standing up for the people and places involved in the cocoa industry.  MPTC bookstores carry Divine Chocolate bars. Look for the Fair Trade logo on all chocolate you buy at your grocery store or local market.

Find out more about Fair Trade and MPTC Fair Trade College!

Register here to join our virtual conversation on October 14 at 7 pm.

Emily Ambrose and Leif Rawson-Ahern of Equal Exchange will provide information on the Fair Trade movement: alternative trade organizations, worker-owned cooperatives, building small farmer supply chains, sustainability, and a farmer-partner group.

Find out how globally-grown chocolate and coffee make their way here and about Equal Exchange’s relationship with local organizations that support Fair Trade.

Learn more about Moraine Park Fair Trade College here!

Moraine Park Cultural Connections is an exciting, fun way to build real world career and life skills, gain self-confidence, and expand your awareness of diversity, global perspective and social responsibility.

Do you need 3 credits of social science to complete your degree requirements?  If so, your cultural connections experience may be financial aid eligible!  Each experience is linked to the MPTC online course Intro to Diversity. Check with your academic advisor today!

View our upcoming Cultural Connections opportunities! All opportunities are linked to academic course credit, financial aid-eligible and intended to give each student participant a meaningful experience outside the classroom, as well as the chance to have an impact on our local, domestic and global community.

Stop in at one of our upcoming information sessions! Each session is on all 3 campuses.

February 25

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. in A203, K204 and L151

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. in A203, K201 and N116

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in E141, K209 and L151

February 26

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. in E141, K313 and L151

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. in E141, K313 and L151

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in A203, K204 and N116

For more information, contact Anne Lemke, Student Community Impact Coordinator, alemke2@morainepark.edu or 920-924-3329

Learn more about cultural connections travel on the Study Abroad Association’s website.

Join us on Friday, March 29, 2019 at 11:30 am in the Moraine Park Technical College cafeteria as we hear firsthand from several Fond du Lac Hmong community members as they talk about their service during the Vietnam War and, the struggles they face to be accepted as veterans, as well as the effects it has had on their families.

America hasn’t always been thankful for Hmong veterans who risked their lives in secrecy in Laos during the Vietnam War. These veterans, trained by the CIA, played a critical role during the Vietnam War, and Wisconsin is home to the third largest concentration of Hmong in the U.S. after California and Minnesota and almost 50,000 Hmong were living in Wisconsin during the 2010 Census.

March 29th is also significant because it is Vietnam Veterans Day. A national day of recognition when we honor the nine million American men and women who served on active duty from November 1st, 1955, to May 7th, 1975 during the Vietnam war and solemnly remember the more than 58,000 whose names are etched into the Vietnam Memorial’s polished black granite—constant reminders of the price of freedom.

For additional information contact Steve Pepper, Moraine Park Technical College’s Student Veteran Specialist at spepper1@morainepark.edu or 920-924-3489.

This year, Moraine Park participated in a study abroad opportunity with other technical colleges to send students to Ireland for 2 weeks.  Our partner college in Ireland is the Waterford Institute of Technology and we work with them to expand students’ knowledge of business and explore issues from a global perspective. During this study abroad course, students participated in classes with Irish instructors and attend business tours while being immersed in another culture.

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Moraine Park Technical College students are gearing up to study abroad this spring. Their destinations? Germany and Ireland!

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