Educational partners from throughout West Bend came together on Oct. 12, to host U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin on the Moraine Park Technical College campus in West Bend. 

The visit featured stories on the partnerships between Moraine Park, the West Bend School District and the Kettle Moraine YMCA. The three community partners work to educate students and families from before primary school through graduation from college—all focused on meeting community workforce needs.  

“West Bend has deep roots as an educationally rich, collaborative community—with many educational touchpoints dedicated to efforts that build and grow the regional and state workforce,” Peter Rettler, dean of Moraine Park’s West Bend campus, said. 

During her visit, Baldwin participated in a roundtable meeting with students, faculty and teachers, administrators, industry partners and education supporters. The visit highlighted the facilities and people who educate the future workforce in West Bend, Washington County and beyond.  

“The needs surrounding education are continuously evolving and we have to plan for the future,” Moraine Park President Bonnie Baerwald said. “It’s important Senator Baldwin not only sees the important work we are all doing now, but also understands the needs we will face in the future as we work to help influence the future workforce.” 

Mary Daley recently started as Moraine Park’s new Tutoring Services Specialist. Daley comes from K-12 education where she worked as a kindergarten teacher.  

“I wanted a change, but also wanted to stay in education,” Daley said. “I’m excited to help students in a new way at Moraine Park.” 

In her new role, Daley recruits peer tutors, professional tutors and tutor specialists, and matches them with students based on their programs and classes. 

“Some students need peer tutors, some need professional tutors and some need the Student Center–every student is unique and has different needs to be met,” Daley said. 

Daley looks forward to improving the tutoring program and introducing new ways for students to get help with their coursework. 

Contact Mary for any tutoring needs: 

mdaley1@morainepark.edu 

(920) 924-6488 

FDL Campus 

The Ell classes at the Beaver Dam Campus are up and running in person this semester. It is so nice to have the students back on campus! The evening class is very popular and there currently are 13 students attending on a regular basis. We have a very diverse population this semester. We have students ranging in ages from 18 to 74. The students all have Spanish as their first language, but represent many countries and cultures. We have students from Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Guatemala. It is quite interesting to talk about dialect differences, beautiful locations and specialty food from each country.

The majority of the students work all day and come to class at night. They are exhausted, but really motivated to learn English in order to get promotions at work and make life easier here in the United States The students work at a variety of different business such as local farms, a foundry and cheese factories. The teacher, Jennifer Lang, tries to connect the curriculum to their work and daily lives as much as possible in order to keep the classes relevant, instantly applicable, and engaging.

What makes the classes successful is that it is a balanced mix of fun and hard work. The students build an instant community and there is a strong sense of teamwork and comradery. Jennifer gives strong encouragement to the students and reminds them that they are all on a different path and to not make comparisons. She shares many of her embarrassing language learning stories to help put the students at ease and to laugh at their own mistakes. She likes to share the story of how she tried to order two pounds of soap instead of ham. Soap is jabón and ham is jamón-easily confused. As for the two pounds, well, she needs a little help with the metric system.

If you are ever on the Beaver Dam Campus on Tuesday or Thursday nights, stop by and say !Hola! If you are interested in registering for classes, please reach out to Tony Rodriguez at 920-887-4496 or 262-306-5302 arodriquez@morainepark.edu (Beaver Dam and West Bend) or Becky Melo 920-924-6339 rmeloenriquez@morainepark.edu (Fond du Lac).

Moraine Park’s Online Accounting program was ranked #11 in best online accounting programs in the nation by University HQ, a leading independent education organization providing students with resources to prepare them for their career and educational journeys. 

“Moraine Park’s ranking reflects our faculty, staff and management’s dedication to helping students master the skills necessary to reach their education and employment goals,” Joan Falter, Moraine Park Accounting Instructor, said. “The accounting team works with our advisory team to ensure that our program meets current needs. Online students have shared surprise in their ability to interact one-on-one with the accounting faculty.” 

The ranking is based on unbiased government reports that analyze admission, retention, graduate rates, diplomas awarded, programs offered, graduate salaries, loan default rates and the percentage of students receiving financial aid. 

“This ranking in addition to the fact that we don’t charge higher out-of-state tuition will continue to build our out-of-state student body,” Falter said. 

Moraine Park’s Online Accounting program was an early adopter of online learning and has been quick to increase synchronous online options. 

“Consistency among modalities and instructors ensures a cohesive learning experience throughout the program,” Julie Dilling, Moraine Park Accounting Instructor, said. “This minimizes students’ cognitive load because they know what to expect as far as cadence and requirements in each of the program courses.” 

Moraine Park provides many resources for students to aid in their successful learning outcomes such as academic advising, counseling, disability services, student life, employment services, tutoring and more, which are all available to online students. 

“In the future, we expect to build on past success,” Falter said. “We will continue implementing new modalities such as synchronous online classes in order to provide online learners with a remote ‘face-to-face’ option.” 

Moraine Park’s Online Accounting program was also ranked #4 in the nation by The Best Schools, an educational and professional resource for students. 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

It couldn’t come at a more urgent time, given the dramatic surge in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Greater awareness and collective action are critical to stop and prevent the abuse that is killing someone EVERY FIVE DAYS IN WISCONSIN, according to the most recent Domestic Homicide Report released last week by the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. EVERY. FIVE. DAYS.

That’s why we all need to join in with the No More chapters around the world in launching the Join the Chorus campaign during October. Everyone — leaders, communities, bystanders — must lend their voice to say No More!

Fond du Lac Says No More is in the third year of community wide efforts, led by the FDL Area Women’s Fund to take a united stand as a community: NO MORE silence. NO MORE silent bystanders. NO MORE violence. TOGETHER WE CAN END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT.

SSM Agnesian DV and Solutions Center DV are the service providers in Fond du Lac.

PAVE is the service provider for Beaver Dam.

FRIENDS is the service provider in West Bend.

Christine Ann is the service provider for Green Lake.

#DVAM2021#FDLsaysNoMore#JoinTheChorus#westandupFDL#Every1KnowsSome1

Congratulations to the 2021-22 Moraine Park Student Senate Officers.

Beaver Dam

Pictured left to right:

President: Jeffrey Bemis of Beaver Dam – Electrical Power Distribution

Secretary: Garrett Nesheim of Madison– Electrical Power Distribution

Vice President: Izak Gruber of Elmwood- Gas Utility

Fond du Lac

Pictured left to right:

President:  Eva Knappenberger of Oshkosh – Cosmetology

Vice President: Mina Vang-Xiong of Fond du Lac – Information Technology (Network and Technical Support Specialist)

Secretary:  Emily Vick of Beaver Dam – Criminal Justice

West Bend

Pictured left to right:

Vice President: Wesley Kane of Fond du Lac– HVAC

President: Aspyn Koslowski of West Bend – HVAC

Secretary: Haley Van Raden of West Bend– IT Web Design

Moraine Park Technical College Diversity Relations is sponsoring the exhibition: A Walk-Through Reality: Giving a Voice to the Voiceless. It is a multisensory, self-guided exhibition of some of the most difficult and complex issues we face today.

The exhibition will be held at the UW-Oshkosh, Fond du Lac Campus at 400 University Drive, Fond du Lac on October 15, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and October 16, 9 a.m.-noon. The community is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Event Flyer

Handshake is Moraine Park Technical College’s new job search platform where employers are able to seek out and hire college students and new graduates. The platform was created in 2014 and has over 9 million active student users. Around 1,200 colleges and universities and 550,000+ employers utilize the platform nation-wide. All 16 of the Wisconsin Technical Colleges use Handshake, as well as many of the UW schools and the private consortium. 

Handshake is unique from other job search platforms in that all jobs are posted specifically for students, and employers will be able to actively recruit from Moraine Park. 

After creating an account profile, students can then upload their resume, cover letter, transcripts, references and even a profile picture. Students are able to receive updates on their application status, research employers, connect with peers and participate in virtual career fairs and events. 

Login or sign up for Handshake at joinhandshake.com. 

For more information, contact Michele Sabel, Moraine Park’s Employment Services Specialist at (920) 924-3205 or msabel@morainepark.edu. 

!Hola!: “O-la” Means “hello” in Spanish.

Meet our English student Eliud Justo. Eliud is from Ixtapaluca, Mexico. He has been living in the United States for seven years.  In Mexico, Eliud worked for Coca-Cola for over 25 years. Here in the United States, Eliud works for the Elbe family at the Golden E dairy farm helping with the milking process.

He has been working on the same farm for the past seven years. Throughout the day, Eliud helps to milk 2,500 cows. That’s a lot of milk! Eliud lives in Fredonia, Wisconsin, and often makes trips to visit family in Sheboygan and Milwaukee. He enjoys eating seafood and highly recommends Tsunami in downtown Milwaukee.  

Eliud has been taking English classes here at Moraine Park for two years. In his job, many people speak Spanish.  He wants to learn English so that he can better communicate with people outside of work and hopes to teach English to others when he retires and moves back to Mexico. He is always encouraging his coworkers to try English classes and to embrace the language.  

If you are interested in classes, please reach out to Tony Rodriguez at 920-887-4496 or 262-306-5302 arodriquez@morainepark.edu (West Bend and Beaver Dam) or Becky Melo 920-924-6339 rmeloenriquez@morainepark.edu (Fond du Lac).