Moraine Park graduates CNC, welding boot camp classes

Nearly 200 people came to Moraine Park Technical College on Friday, Dec. 9 to celebrate the accomplishments of 23 Fall 2016 Manufacturing Skills Academies completers. (To view more photos from the event, click here).

Graduating from the CNC program were Brittany Decker, Waupun; Tyron Fonseca, Fond du Lac; Jue Vang, Milwaukee; Angelica Rodriguez, Fond du Lac; Thomas Molitor, Brown Deer; Michael Steuer, Fond du Lac; Curtis Pautsch, Horicon; Jeremy Buhrow, Redgranite; Shaun Olson, Mayville; Simon Galica, Ripon; Michael Roberts, Brownsville and Darrell Wightman, Beaver Dam.

Meanwhile, graduating from welding were Madison Callegari, Fox Lake; Jodi Thornton, West Bend; Blademir Avilez, Fond du Lac; Aaron Golemgeski, Fond du Lac; Tre Brown, Fond du Lac; Spencer Hanks, Fond du Lac; Nicole Brown, Fond du Lac; Dakota Swanke, Princeton; Lance Joeckel, Fond du Lac; Thomas Pargulski, Port Washington; and Kelly Gaulthier, Waupun.

”It’s amazing to see the growth in both skill and confidence in our boot camp students throughout the short program.  What started as a shy group of individuals became a cohesive team of confident and skilled technicians. We are so proud of what they have accomplished, despite many obstacles that came along the way. What’s even more exciting is to see is them entering new careers and the bright future that lies ahead. Most start work at new jobs the day after completion, and we couldn’t be happier for them!” said JoAnn Hall, Dean of Economic and Workforce Development.

Moraine Park’s Skills Academy boot camps are sponsored by a business consortium of local employers, who, with the help of the Office of Skills Development’s Wisconsin Fast Forward grant, make the program free for students. In addition, students receive a cost-of-living stipend and a 144-hour internship making $12/hour.

At the completion ceremony, Chad Verges, senior regional human resource manager at Mayville Engineering Company, Inc. spoke to graduates, as did welding instructor Andrew Luby and CNC instructor James Gyorfy, among others at the College. Boot C   amp alumni guest speaker was H.L. Cox. Graduate speakers were Galica, who spoke on behalf of the CNC class, and Callegari, who spoke for the welding group.

Since the welding and CNC boot camps started in 2012, there have been 21 boot camps with a total of 188 graduates. Roughly 90 percent of those who start the welding or CNC boot camps complete them, and of those who complete, 87 percent are offered employment within three months.

For an up-close chance to learn more about boot camps, Moraine Park is hosting CNC machining and Welding Test Drive workshops Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017 from 12:15 to 2:15 p.m.

Space is limited for the Test Drive workshops, and pre-registration is required. Deadline to register for the January workshops is December 21, 2016.

For more details on Test Drive or boot camps, visit morainepark.edu/bootcamp, or call Abby Pluim at 920-924-3338.