Moraine Park Technical College held its 27th annual GED/HSED graduation ceremony on May 30. For the 2018-19 school year, 126 students received their General Education Development (GED) or High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) certificates.

Rebecca Carreon of Fond du Lac, Natasha Peters of Ripon, Sandra Pfund of Slinger, and Betty Zimdars of West Bend served as student speakers.

Carreon and Peters, sisters and twins, spoke together on the struggles of life and how important it was to both of them to complete the journey together.

“I tried multiple times to finish my HSED on my own but never followed through with it because I never thought I could do it,” Peters said. “The support of family, friends, the teachers at the Student Success Center, and my sister gave me the courage and push I needed to finish.”

Both Carreon and Peters plan to continue their education at Moraine Park this fall, with an overall goal to earn their college degree.

“I have always wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse, and I finally feel like that isn’t just a dream anymore,” Carreon said. “Now I can make it a reality! We plan on starting school here at Moraine Park Technical College in the upcoming year.  After all the support we had to finish our HSED here, we can only imagine the support we will get once in our programs!”

Pfund shared her story of deciding to complete her high school diploma with the support of her friend and fellow GED student, Zimdars.

“We have maintained our friendship and motivated each other along the way,” Pfund said. “My success has been helped with a special friendship and someone to hold me accountable. Nothing is impossible, no matter what age you are. Our journey was not an easy one, but our friendship helped immensely.”

Pfund and Zimdars have decided to continue their educational journey together as Moraine Park college students.

Abby McGeehen of Berlin and Zimdars were each the recipients of $500 student scholarships.  These scholarships are awarded to GED/HSED graduates who are continuing their education at Moraine Park.

The GED/HSED students had to pass all four subject portions of the nationally recognized GED tests to receive their diploma. They also had to meet requirements in employability, digital literacy, health, and civics. Moraine Park’s GED/HSED instruction is available year-round and is one of the many services at the College that is offered for free to the community.

For more information about Moraine Park’s GED/HSED classes, visit morainepark.edu/GED.

View all of the photos from the GED/HSED graduation at https://www.flickr.com/gp/148240170@N03/Y00FC2.

Did you know how many different career opportunities there are in the field of Criminal Justice? Did you know that for the past 28 springs the MPTC Criminal Justice instructors have been hosting a Career Day to help students explore?

Students spend the day engaging in professional communications, networking, and participating in and observing mock interviews with community partners from: Fond du Lac, Washington, Dodge, Green Lake, and Winnebago County Sheriffs, Fond du Lac and Oakfield Police, State of WI Department of Corrections, and U.S. Probation. Criminal Justice Instructor Joan Barfield said, “The many available jobs and career opportunities in this high demand law, public safety, and security field can be confusing! This day is great with experiential learning for our students to get a clearer picture of all their choices so they can imagine success!”

Check out the Criminal Justice Associate Degree!

In this economic climate, every competitive edge matters, leading business professionals to continually explore ways to eliminate waste thus improving overall production quality and efficiency which is the six sigma methodology that has proven results through the Moraine Park training program.

On Thursday, June 13, 2019 the Six Sigma Green Belt Spring 2019 class presented their final project results and received their certifications upon successfully completing the program. The program participants included Jeff Straup and Brent Del Ponte both Production Generalists from Grande Cheese Company and Clinton Gumieny a Quality Technician from Amerequip Corporation.  The graduation ceremony took place on the Moraine Park Technical College Fond du Lac Campus with business representatives, sponsors and project champions present.

The participants completed 88 hours of class time and additional time working on their independent projects which included developing a project team, collecting and analyzing data in an effort to reduce waste, eliminate re-work and improve customer satisfaction through product improvements. The return on the investment from these project resulted in approximately $26,000 in hard savings which averaged $8,684 per company with projected opportunity to continue the saving as the projects are fully implemented and scaled.

The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) – Green Belt Certification takes employees to the next level of training in the Six Sigma philosophy. Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving and sustaining bottom-line results in your organization. The fall course will begin on August 27^th with a deadline of August 2^nd to register by emailing training@morainepark.edu or calling 920-924-3449.

There will also be a complimentary Lean Enterprise/Six Sigma Executive Overview podcast available at https://www.morainepark.edu/business-and-industry/webinars/ in November 2019.

As part of the Fond du Lac Area Women’s Fund, Fond du Lac Says No More! project, to prevent violence against women and children, the Women’s Fund is launching the Green Dot Bystander Intervention Project to make Fond du Lac safer! Green Dot specifically educates on 3 core tactics for intervention: Direct, Distract, Delegate.

In November, 2018 – 40 area volunteer trainers were certified in Green Dot and are now being sent out into the FDL area community to educate and build the collective “we” who will all make a difference!

What can you do?

*Check out the info on the little teal table at MPTC FDL Campus near the Career Center

*Attend a bystander intervention workshop

*Bring a Green Dot workshop to your business or school

*Share Green Dot with family, friends and co workers

No one has to do everything if we all do something!

#westandupfdl

#dontstandby

For more info contact: 920-322-8778 or greendotfdl@gmail.com

From late March to mid May, Amy Harmsen’s Meeting and Event Planning students spent 36 hours of service learning working on the annual Portfolio Showcase Event featuring MPTC Web Developer and Graphics students. The Showcase was held on May 15 at Fond du Lac Campus. Event Management students were responsible for ordering food, creating a room layout, coordinating technology, communicating with marketing for event promotion, connecting with participants on power needs, set up, monitoring, and take down of the event. In addition, the students helped promote the first annual High School Art Contest and upcoming Fond du Lac area Graphic and Interactive Arts Festival.

The Event Management course is required for an Administrative Professional Associate Degree and focuses on coordinating and planning successful business events. Students develop skills in scheduling, preparing, organizing, managing and participating and engage in all aspects of the event management process including goal setting and objectives, establishing event themes, planning event logistics, financial management, promotion and event evaluation.

Congratulations on a successful Portfolio Showcase learning and sharing event !

Th

Last month, first semester Moraine Park nursing students helped residents get ready for their annual prom at the Fond du Lac St. Francis Home.

The students used their clinical time to provide hair and nail care, and dress the residents for their big event! The students enjoyed the one-on-one time to pamper the residents and give personalized care.

St. Francis Home hosts the resident prom each spring with a live music from a local high school band and invites family members to participate. So much fun!

For more program information, visit morainepark.edu/programs.

Nursing students in Instructor Michele Mengert’s Mental Health and Community Concepts course recently completed their community advocacy projects as part of our Spring, 2019 service learning opportunities. Michele said, “students are purposefully working to learn community oriented nursing. We want to target prevention as a priority. Nurses need to understand how to advocate for specific populations of people and have knowledge of the resource programs in your community that you can partner with to help your patients.”

This semester 17 students spent over 80 hours researching and collaborating with community partners to learn more about planned parenthood, poverty, women & infants, suicide, domestic violence, opioid abuse, water quality, and more. Students formulated detailed advocacy plans to address how a nurse could help a community identify and address these issues, providing education, awareness, advocacy and resources. Students gathered data to help determine strengths and weaknesses in their own communities. Project presentations were held on May 17.

Congratulations on all of this great work on important community issues!

Moraine Park Technical College has presented Serenity Hospice with its 2019 Community Partnership Award. This award recognizes a community non-profit or business partner organization who has gone above and beyond in their role of working with Moraine Park students in service learning opportunities.

Serenity Hospice is committed to providing the highest quality of care with a multidisciplinary team, serving patients and their families through every stage of end of life care. Moraine Park Medical Assistant students are important members of the hospice team! Volunteers are specially trained to provide support to the patient and family such as socialization, visitation, and helping with administrative tasks such as scanning, filing, alphabetizing, faxing, data entry, scheduling and collating. In 2019, MPTC student service learning volunteers spent over 240 hours at Serenity Hospice!

Ashley Wissinger, Volunteer & Bereavement Coordinator for Serenity Hospice said, “Thank you so much for this award!  We’ve had a lot of wonderful student volunteers from Moraine Park. The award is lovely and is proudly displayed. It was so great to meet your team and put faces with names!  It is truly an honor to work with the Moraine Park students.  We appreciate everything you and your team do to ensure your students are successful.”

Moraine Park Technical College works to bring quality education to the students, which in turn will benefit the communities where they live and work. Students who participate are required to log their volunteer hours, which count towards earning a Service-Learning Award.  Opportunities such as this allow students to make community connections prior to graduation and work through real-life scenarios. The partnership created by Moraine Park Technical College and Serenity Hospice will continue to benefit both of our organizations, the student volunteers, and the patients and families that are being served.

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

Moraine Park apprentice, John Dondlinger, employed by Eagle Construction Co., Inc. in Wisconsin Rapids, was named as the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) 2019 Apprentice of the Year at the ABC annual graduation banquet in Wisconsin Dells.

The Apprentice of the Year award goes to an apprentice who is in good standing, is at least half-way through the apprenticeship program, demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, and is highly regarded by other apprentices, instructors, and employers. Dondlinger is known for his quiet presence in the classroom and is regarded as a lead-by-example student who is willing to jump in and help others understand how to complete a task correctly.

Moraine Park Alumni, Jacob Moody, served as the event keynote speaker. Moody, a 2018 graduate from the carpentry apprenticeship, is a journeyman carpenter for Kraemer Brothers in Plain. He joined the Kraemer Brothers team in 2007 as a laborer, and today he holds two apprenticeship completion cards in the state of Wisconsin for construction craft laborer and carpentry. Moody also took first place in carpentry at the ABC of Wisconsin Skills Competition in 2018 and went on to win first place at ABC’s National Craft Championships.

In his speech, Moody recalled his journey through apprenticeship and thanked those who helped him along the way, particularly Moraine Park instructor Gary Roehrig and Darrell Kraemer of Kraemer Brothers. He highlighted his experiences competing at the National Craft Championships and encouraged the soon-to-be-graduates to stay involved in ABC.

“These apprentices are now journeymen in their trade who will add each and every one of their abilities to our workforce,” Moody said. “There are going to be many more opportunities for all of you. Just remember don’t be afraid, don’t put boundaries around you, never stop learning, and enjoy your lives while you’re at it.”

Moraine Park is also celebrating its solid partnership with ABC. 2019 marks the fourth consecutive year that a Moraine Park student has been selected as the Apprentice of the Year and also the third consecutive year that the keynote speaker is an alumnus from the College.

morainepark.edu