Happy spring, and congratulations to all students receiving a GED or HSED this year. On May 27, we’ll be celebrating all the graduates from this year and last, so look for your invitation and join us on the 27^th!

Each year, students work hard to complete their GED/HSED requirements, and every student comes with a story of how they came to Moraine Park Technical College. Many also have a clear plan for what they want to do next, whether it’s to get a great job or pursue further education. One such student is Ariel Baute, who chose a different path.

Ariel came to MPTC last fall, with a determination to earn his HSED and move on to his next goal of joining the army. He did just that, earning his HSED in January, but Ariel will miss the graduation ceremony because he is currently doing his basic training in Georgia. His plan is to continue with advanced training to become a member of 19 Delta Airborne, where he’ll be a Cavalry scout and paratrooper.

Ariel hasn’t chosen the easiest path, but we’re sure he will approach it with the same grit and determination he did his HSED. We wish him every success in his service to the country. Thank you, Ariel!

For more information about the GED program or this year’s graduation ceremony, call Ann at 920-924-6393.

Photo: Ariel Baute of Fond du Lac, with Deb Schuh, Fdl Instructor

STORY FEATURED IN THE SPRING/SUMMER 2021 NEXT MAGAZINE

Kelly Hagner, of Fond du Lac, has always desired to care for others and make a difference in the world. This is what drove her to pursue a nursing degree at Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC).

“When I first came to the College in 2005, there was a waitlist for nursing,” she said. “I knew MPTC was going to be a vital steppingstone for me, and I wanted to take advantage of my time at the College. So, I enrolled in the Supervisory Management program, and then the Nursing program when a spot opened.”

Hagner graduated from the Supervisory Management and Nursing associate degree programs in 2009.

“After my graduation, the economy was not great, and I had difficulty finding a job as a registered nurse (RN) in a medical clinic setting,” she said. “I took a job as an RN in one of Agnesian HealthCare’s nursing homes, which was another choice that proved to be a valuable career step.”

A few years later, Hagner accepted a position as an RN at the Agnesian Cancer Center.

“I love my work at the Cancer Center,” Hagner said. “Both the patients and people I work with are uplifting and bring me so much joy. They make me want to be better and do better.”

Hagner became settled in her career but had aspirations for higher education. She decided to make a goal to earn a master’s degree in nursing (MSN) and become a nurse practitioner (NP) before the age of 40.

“I knew I wanted to continue my education, but it was also scary in so many ways,” she said. “I have a family with young children and didn’t think I would have the time. However, after some encouragement from friends and peers, I decided to have a conversation with the admissions department at Marian University.”

During that time, she also got an email from her employer that detailed both a tuition discount program with Marian and a tuition reimbursement employee benefit.

“I took that as a sign from God and began my next educational journey,” she said.

Hagner graduated with her MSN last May and is living out her career dreams as an NP with the Medical Oncology team at the Agnesian Cancer Center.

“I am so grateful to Moraine Park,” she said. “They offered me the opportunity to stay local, have a family, and live life to the fullest— all while getting an education. The College opened my eyes to both the educational and career opportunities right here in my community, and I’m honored to have Moraine Park as part of my journey.”

Did you know MPTC has transfer agreements with nearly 50 different colleges/universities and in more than 100 program areas?

This means, you can earn your associate degree at Moraine Park for a fraction of the cost and then transfer your credits to earn a bachelor’s degree or beyond!

View our transfer agreements by program or college at morainepark.edu/transfer.

Believe it or not, graduation is right around the corner!

Do you know someone who is graduation this year?  If so, you can congratulate them by giving them a thoughtful gift.

I’ve made a list below of some great gift ideas for 2021. Also, gifts marked with a ($) are $15 and under and ($$$) are $25-$50.

Happy gifting! 😊

• Bluetooth speaker ($$$)
• Gift card ($ or $$$)
• Candy gift basket ($)
• Basic cookbook ($)
• Mantra Band ($$$)
• Travel passport wallet ($)
• Card games ($$$)
• Planner notepads ($)
• Portable charger ($)
• Personalized cup ($$$)
• World bucket list scratch off ($$$)

It’s time to #BuildBackFairer

Celebrate World Fair Trade Day on May 8! The Fair Trade movement has a great solution for helping end inequality, poverty, gender discrimination, and saving our environment. As we recover from the Covid pandemic we cannot go back to the old normal! The old normal left millions of people behind and was destroying our planet. We have the opportunity to Build Back Fairer!

Did you know MPTC is a Fair Trade College? Fair trade supports farmers and artisans in developing countries. These producers lack economic opportunity and often face steep hurdles in finding markets and customers for their goods. Fair Trade is about making a tremendous impact on artisan and farmer communities while offering great products to the public all around the world.

At all three MPTC campuses, our campus bookstores carry Divine Chocolate and Good Paper Cards, and Alta Gracia clothing. Our three cafeterias offer Fair Trade coffee and Fair Trade tea!

MPTC collaborates with several other area organizations supporting and educating others about Fair Trade such as Fond du Lac Fair Trade Towns, Just Fare Market, UW Oshkosh Fair Trade College, and UW Fond du Lac Fair Trade University.

Learn more at https://fairtradecampaigns.org/campaign-type/universities/

Also, find Fair Trade Information at Campus Libraries.

Moraine Park Technical College student, Jared Ott of Fond du Lac, placed first in the NEW Ideas Pitch Challenge, a collaborative regional pitch event, on April 29.

The NEW Ideas Pitch Challenge is an opportunity for area technical college students to display their entrepreneurial skills. Students interested in participating were required to apply by March 26. The entries were evaluated on content, delivery, visual aids, creativity, and overall persuasion. From there, the top entries advanced to the challenge event on April 29. This year’s event was held virtually. 

The students selected to represent Moraine Park at the NEW Ideas Pitch Challenge were Ott and Abby McGeehen of Berlin. Jared is a high school senior from the Fond du Lac STEM Academy who is currently enrolled as a business student through the Start College Now program. Abby is a current student, enrolled in the Business Management and Small Business/Entrepreneurship programs. Moraine Park instructor Jeff Stueber worked with the students and provided coaching.

“This event is a valuable learning opportunity for our students,” Bobbi Fields, associate dean of business and IT at Moraine Park said. “I am grateful for the many individuals at the College who helped ensure this was a successful event. Jared and Abby did an excellent job representing the college. We are proud of their efforts and wish them the best in their entrepreneurial endeavors.” 

Ott’s winning pitch was his specially designed fishing hooks that help secure live bate. Ott’s fishing hooks are already secured by a U.S. patent.

The other participating colleges were Fox Valley Technical College, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and Lakeshore Technical College.

morainepark.edu

Amanda’s Custom Cookies combine the taste of amazing along with artistic and personalized creation.  Amanda Rogers is a student at Moraine Park Technical College. She will earn her Associate degree in Small Business and Entrepreneurship this spring and plans to pursue a degree in Marketing as well.

Over the last year, using a family cut-out cookie recipe and her talents of art has grown from a hobby to a small business.  Amanda combines the taste and art in a cookie that is almost too pretty to actually eat!  Not only has she created these amazing cookies, but she also now has developed a class in which you and four of your faves can partake in her kitchen to learn and create your own cookies through a class of cookie decorating.  This two-hour class will fly by in fun and design as Amanda, herself, will guide you through the fine skills of cookie art. 

As a student at Moraine Park Technical College, Amanda was required to set up a pop-up store for her Capstone course.  Instructor, Jeff Stueber states that not only did her pop-up store held on May 1, 2021 at Stone Oak Coffee sell out of product, but her cookie business exceeds expectations of business planning and marketing.  Next time you need something unique as a gift or want to take a fun class, consider checking out Amanda’s Custom Cookies on Facebook.

Moraine Park’s State Certified Firefighter 2 and EMT classes recently held a vehicle extrication training exercise. During the event, the fire students completed a safety check of the vehicle and checking on the number of patients, vehicle stabilization, window removal, door removal, roof removal, and assisting in patient removal. This training was to help prepare the students for the fire certification test. EMT students were able to learn how to remove a patient from the vehicle and collaborate with the firefighters during an emergency. This training ties into trauma assessment for the EMT students. 

Participating Firefighter 2 students include Josiah Brath, Joshua Bartelt, Griffin Brunet, Nick Smith, Kurt Haefs, Mitch Hartmann, Mike Webber, Andrew Pike, Kate Breunig, Doug Budiac, Kerri Ostrowski,   EMT students from my class, Joanne Bernhardt, Crystal Braun, Haylee Cornelius, Dan Croft, Mark Franz, Nikkos Kanthack, Gabe Maurer, Jim Perkins, Cassandra Schultz, Erick Searvogel, Nate Stocks. 

Participating EMT students include Pamela Brunet, Caitlin Butterbaugh, Kaylee Chapman, Ella Schmidt, Janeen Williams, Sophie Willinganz, Sara Zeinert.

During the exercise, the College was able to use their new extrication equipment received through an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG). This included Holmatro extrication equipment from Jefferson Fire & Equipment, and a spreader, cutter, ram, and vehicle stabilization steps.

Wally’s Auto Salvage of Beaver Dam donated the vehicle.

For more information, visit morainepark.edu. 

Students in Moraine Park’s Marketing and Social Media Management program applied their video editing skills and created 19 videos to promote local United Way agency partners in Fond du Lac, Washington and Dodge counties.

“The MPTC Community Resource Project Team was in the middle of planning an in person community resource/volunteer fair for each MPTC campus when COVID put a halt to our plans.  A new idea was how about doing it virtually?  We reached out to our Marketing and Social Media Management Instructor Sarah Ninmer, who was eager to have her Fall, 2020 students work on a service learning project.  Next we reached out to FDL, Dodge and Washington County United Ways to ask their agency partners who would like to make a video with our students?”  Anne Lemke, Student Community Impact Coordinator.

“Anne contacted me with her project needs and I was so excited our class could help her and the United Way Community. The students ended up dedicating over 160 hours of their time and gained valuable real-world experiences”. Sarah Ninmer, Moraine Park Marketing and Social Media Management Instructor.

Students learned so much from this project!

“Completing this project was a great way for me to use my skills to give back to my community as well as learn more about creating ads for small business. Overall, I loved this assignment and hope to get similar experience in other classes!” Emma H., Moraine Park Marketing and Social Media Management Student

“Overall, I feel that this project was successful in helping me improve my digital design skills and it opened my awareness to new opportunities in the community.” Peyton W., Moraine Park Marketing and Social Media Management Student

United Way partners are so pleased with the project results!

“Wow!!!  What a great job on the videos. Thank your students and teacher for us. I have gotten a lot of feedback from Arc members and they are loving it.”  Bernie Hafenstein, The Arc of Dodge County

“United Way is grateful to the students and faculty at MPTC for producing a video series.  Each video features a local nonprofit agency that is funded by United Way.  They highlight the great work being done every day by nonprofit agencies to help our residents in need.  United Way funded programs served over 15,000 individuals and families last year.  United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in our community #UnitingForceForGood.” Kristin Brandner, Executive Director, United Way of Washington County

Moraine Park Technical College students from both the CNC Tool and Die and Electricity clubs participated virtually in the 2021 Wisconsin SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference during the week of April 12.

The CNC Tool and Die Club representatives competed in the Automated Manufacturing Technology category. Participants who earned second place are Alyssa Bidenbender of West Bend, William Fuhrmann of Fond du Lac, and Cole Duehring of West Bend. Pariticpants who earned third place are Logan Kelley of Port Washington, Brady Falk of West Bend, and Phillip Paulus of Fredonia.

Electricity Club representatives competed in the Industrial Motor Controls category and earned a complete sweep of the top three spots. Participants were Austin Seidel of West Bend, first place; Eric Helgeson of Juneau, second place; and, Seth Mckenzie of Sheboygan, third place.

Seidel will represent Moraine Park Technical College at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC), June 21-24. The National event will also be held virtually.

SkillsUSA is the showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation. The philosophy of the event is to reward students for excellence, involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and keep training relevant to employers’ needs. More than 16,000 people are expected to participate in the NLSC weeklong event.

For more information about Moraine Park Technical College, visit morainepark.edu.