Change is scary, and those who are working to pursue their educational goals know this all too well. Ashley Martin of Fond du Lac recognized that fear when she found herself at the front steps of Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus in 2017.

As a mother of four, she had been working two jobs to make ends meet, but she had aspirations of finding her dream career.

“I wanted to better my life,” Martin said. “When I walked through the front doors of the College I was so scared. I didn’t know if I could go back to school after all this time.”

Like many returning students, she was looking for a career that would work well for her life and fulfill her goals. Moraine Park’s Student Success Center helped her with a career assessment. Through that, she discovered the Substance Abuse Counseling program. She enrolled immediately and began her college career in fall 2017.

“I instantly felt welcomed,” Martin said. “I have found great friends and supporters who are more like family, and they always give me a reason to keep coming back.”

One of those connections was with Sam Saeger, a student life specialist at Moraine Park.

“Ashley is one of a kind,” Sam said. “She is driven and focused. Not only is she an exceptional student in and out of the classroom, but her commitment and enthusiasm towards the College are unmatched.”

Since enrolling at Moraine Park, Martin has served on the Student Senate as secretary and vice president, and the Diversity Club as the vice president. She founded the Substance Abuse Counseling Club, is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, and has served the College on cross-functional collaboration teams as a student representative. She is also a part of a work-study with Sam and can be found all around the Fond du Lac campus and in the community, helping with student life events and advocating for the College.

“It’s incredible to know that as students, our voices are valued and heard,” Martin said. “Moraine Park is my college, and it will always be my college. I find such value in the fact that my opinion matters.”

Martin has also maintained a 4.0 and been on the Dean’s List her entire college career. It is because of her drive, determination, and all-around positive spirit that Martin has been named as Moraine Park’s 2019 Student of the Year.

“I’m still in shock,” she said. “I never thought this was possible for me. I have worked hard, and I am proud of myself.”

Criteria for Student of the Year nominations include demonstrating excellence in and out of the classroom while modeling Moraine Park’s core abilities to communicate clearly, act responsibly, work productively, think critically and creatively, adapt to change, demonstrate integrity, and work cooperatively. There were ten candidates this year, all of whom excel both academically and in their service learning. There are very few student honors that exceed this award at Moraine Park, and to even be nominated is a tremendous accomplishment.  Martin will receive her award at the Student Awards Banquet on May 10.

“We all celebrate with Ashley on her success at Moraine Park,” Sam said. “However, it is her heart and generosity that stand out the most. She is very deserving of the Student of the Year award, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Martin will graduate on May 18, and it will be her first time walking a commencement stage.

“Moraine Park has given me unlimited opportunities,” Martin said. “I’m proud of my school, and I look forward to serving as an alumnus.”

She has goals to continue her education, with an overall goal to be a mental health counselor.

The finalist include Dominic DeLaura of Slinger, Troy Essmann  of Oconomowoc, Justin Kraus of Fond du Lac, Alex McCleary of Fond du Lac, Christian McCreary of West Bend, Michael Moon of Beaver Dam, Jonathan Szczesny of Iron Ridge, Sam Turner Baraboo, Elizabeth Wustrack Fond du Lac.

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

The Moraine Park Foundation has received support from their long-time partner, Follett, with a $50,000 donation to benefit students. Follett’s contribution to the Foundation was given to the unrestricted fund, meaning it can be used to support students not only with affording tuition but also with personal emergencies that limit their ability to continue attending classes.

“I am so grateful to Follett for their generous and loyal commitment to Moraine Park students,” Dana Bourland, director of college advancement at Moraine Park said. “Their annual gift to the Foundation helps needy students afford an education through scholarship support.  Their generosity also helps students stay enrolled by providing grants for unexpected emergencies.  Our partnership with Follett will impact students’ lives for generations to come.”

The Moraine Park Foundation works to make education accessible and affordable for current and prospective students. Thanks to community partners, like Follett, the Foundation was able to help a total of 237 students with financial support in 2017-18.

“Follett’s long-standing commitment to the communities we serve is actively cultivated in a spirit of giving that’s present throughout all our campuses,” Aaron Bladorn, Follett multi-store manager said. “At Follett, our purpose has always been to improve the world by inspiring learning and shaping education. Follett’s yearly donation to the Moraine Park Foundation focuses on empowering students through scholarships and various other financial support initiatives. We are thrilled to have an amazing partnership with Moraine Park, and we look forward to helping drive student success for years to come.”

Follett is a national partner for schools, districts, and college campuses, providing education technology, services, and print and digital content to nearly 1,200 local campus stores and over 1,600 virtual stores. Their mission is to work as a trusted partner and help educators drive success for students from their first day of school through college graduation and beyond.

The Moraine Park Foundation lives the mission of partnering with joyful givers who believe in the power of education to transform lives, families, and communities. Annually, the Foundation’s community partners help provide students with scholarships, books, program support, and emergency financial assistance.

For more information on the Moraine Park Foundation, visit morainepark.edu/foundation.

Graduating students from Moraine Park Technical College’s Graphic Communications, Interactive Media Design, and Web Design programs will be showcasing their talents at the College’s Portfolio Showcase on Wednesday, May 15, at the Fond du Lac campus.

This annual event highlights the projects and work these graduating students have completed in their respective programs while at Moraine Park, and it allows them to share their projects with prospective employers, the local community and Moraine Park students and staff. Students from the Fond du Lac and West Bend campuses will have their work on display.

Portfolio Night is free and will be held at Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus at 235 N. National Ave. from 4 to 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. For more information, contact Joe Sibilski at (262) 335-5772.

To learn more about all of Moraine Park’s programs, visit morainepark.edu/programs.

We increasingly read about today’s newest technologies (Artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles). But living in Wisconsin, we often ask the following questions:

• What are these technologies?

• Isn’t this technology 5 years away?

• Aren’t the companies and industries using this technology just in New York, Chicago, or Silicon Valley?

• How can I get skills in Northeast Wisconsin to be involved with these technologies?

Oliver Buechse, co-Founder and Executive Director of Advancing AI Wisconsin, will present at Moraine Park Technical College on Tuesday, April 30th at 4:00pm.

Campus Location: 235 N National Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI. The event will be held in room A109 (Cafeteria). Get Campus and Visitor Information here.

Register for this free event at the NEW IT Alliance Events page. Refreshments will be provided.

On March 28, Fond du Lac and Tri- County Boys and Girls Club teens in grades 5-11 were excited to meet and learn with Moraine Park Criminal Justice students!

Tri-County Boys and Girls Club Teen Futures Coordinator Carrie Govek said, “Our teens were given this great opportunity to participate in an interactive presentation done by the Criminal Justice students and their instructors at Moraine Park. They learned about criminal justice careers and professionalism.  They even got to try handcuffs, fingerprinting, and searching for contraband in a jail cell! What a fun learning experience for all those who participated!  A big thank you to the Moraine Park Criminal Justice students and their Instructors Joan Barfield and Jeff Gruss for providing our teens with a chance to learn about this important career.”

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!

2019 HIGH SCHOOL ART CONTEST
Enter by April 20, 2019

High School artists are invited to submit digital images of their work in the following categories:

1. Painting
2. Drawing
3. Digital Photography (minimal photo editing allowed-adjustments of color or conversion to grayscale that do not alter content are permitted.)
4. Digital Photo Creation and Illustration
5. Sculpture
6. Illustration-traditional medium
7. Publication Design (Including newsletters, invitations, and event posters)
8. T-shirt Design

All art must be submitted in electronic format as JPEG files no more than 4×7 at 200 PPI with a file size not to exceed 5 megabytes. All art must be submitted by APRIL 20, 2019 via email to: artsubmission@morainepark.edu
The following information must be provided for your submission to be considered:

• Student Name
• Student Contact Information (email) Student Grade
• High School Attending
• Title of Art
• Category

Limit of two entries per person, per category.

Prizes are:

• 1st place: MPTC apparel and gift certificate ($50)
• 2nd place: MPTC apparel and gift certificate ($25)
• 3rd place: MPTC apparel

Winners will be selected by a panel of Art/Design professionals and the winning entries will be featured online and in a digital art show at the Moraine Park Portfolio Showcase on May 15, 2019.

For more information please contact artsubmission@morainepark.edu .

On Friday, February 22^nd, 2019 on a beautiful late-winter day, 9 ABC Carpentry Apprentices, under the guidance of their instructor, Gary Roehrig, installed custom-made, heavy-duty cabinets into two of the houses in the Gas Utility Construction Training Neighborhood on the Beaver Dam campus. The carpenter apprentices built the cabinets in the woodshop on the West Bend campus, where they attend school, as part of their Advanced Cabinetmaking course. This course was developed and is being taught by Mr. Roehrig, a long-time instructor for the apprenticeship at Moraine Park.

The partnership between the apprenticeship program and the Gas Utility Construction program began unwittingly two years ago when, as part of their formal instruction, the carpenter apprentices built six 8×12 foot ‘sheds’ to gain practice designing and building small wooden structures. The original intent of this effort was to sell the sheds to local business or homeowners for use as brat-fry stands or for personal use. During the same time, planning was well underway to create the new gas program on the Beaver Dam campus, when the idea arose to use the 6 sheds—now called ‘houses’—to form a training neighborhood that gas program students could use for their own training.

The idea took hold, and even expanded to include two additional houses that were configured to be able to store tools and small equipment, thus making a training neighborhood of 8 houses. In late April, 2018, the 8 houses were transported from the West Bend woodshop and placed on concrete pads at the Beaver Dam campus, in time for the new program to start in June. Business and industry partners who contributed to the gas program capital campaign had plaques attached to the sides of the houses in recognition of their generosity.

As this phase of the partnership was reaching its’ end, a collaborative idea between Steve Horvath, Associate Dean of Trades, and Gary Roehrig came up, which was to have this year’s carpenter apprentices build the cabinets for the 2 extra houses. The intent in installing the heavy-duty cabinets is that in the future, the gas program students and instructor will be able to store supplies and small equipment out ‘in the field’, where it will be handy to access, rather than have to go back into the main lab for what is needed. For their part, the carpenter apprentices gained valuable skills in designing and building top-quality cabinets from scratch.

When the task was completed in the early afternoon of Feb. 22^nd, Associate Dean Horvath thanked the carpentry apprentices and their instructor, telling them they had accomplished a task that is much appreciated and one which will have a long-lasting positive impact on another program in the college.

I’d like you to meet Nathan Zielieke, an Automotive Tech student at MPTC. Nathan gave me a helping hand, literally, at Kwik Trip a few weeks back, and I feel he deserves positive recognition for his good deed!

Let’s just say I MAY have been quite a bit overdue for an oil change when I happened to see him leaving the store asked him “How far over is TOO far overdue?” Without hesitation, Nathan asked, “Would you like me to check your oil level?” I declined at first, but he kindly insisted and I’m glad he did!

He pointed out “Your oil should really be up to this line on the stick, and it’s way down here, you should probably go into the store and buy a quart. I’ll come in with you.”

Nathan didn’t stop there, he proceeded to put the oil in – cupping his hand in place of a funnel. What an upstanding citizen and all around nice guy!

When I asked Nathan how he became interested in cars and working on them, his face lit up, “I’ve been working in the shop, tearing down engines and restoring old cars with my dad and grandpa since before I could walk. My dad and I keep my grandpa’s old cars running and bring them to car shows. I haven’t missed the Iola Car Show and Swap Meet since I was six.”

“Right now I’m working on turning the first car my dad bought at age 11 into a drag racing car, it’s a 1958 Ford Custom 300. I’m also restoring a 1984 F350 and getting a 65 F250 running. I can fix anything that has an engine 4-wheelers, boats, lawnmowers, snowmobiles, dirt-bikes, you name it.”

I asked Nathan about his time here at Moraine Park and what his future holds he said, “I like it here, I enjoy the instructors, the real-life experiences and all the joking around. I work in a shop in Fond du Lac right now, but after I graduate next year, I want to find a job in restoration. Someday, I want to own a shop restoring old cars – nothing beats a classic.”

Thank you, Nathan, for being such a great guy- and for using your Moraine Park skills for those in need!

morainepark.edu/automotive-technician

Congratulations to Moraine Park students and staff on a huge accomplishment!

As of today, a total of 4,000 community impact hours have been logged by Moraine Park students and employees. This amounts to approximately $97,000 in economic impact throughout the MPTC District and surrounding areas. Needless to say, Moraine Park is giving back, in big ways!

For more information on service learning, or how you can become involved, visit morainepark.edu/service-learning.