Last week, Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) nursing students partnered with Oakfield Elementary School to teach K-5 students the importance of hand hygiene and germ control.
The event was coordinated by MPTC Nursing Instructor, Casey Truse, and Oakfield Elementary School Nurse, Mekenzie Bowe. The six participating nursing students from Truse’s class included Nick Santiago of Kenosha, Paige Fraley of Hartford, Kendra Smith of Hartford, Michael Boyd of Manteno, Kali Herrick of Horicon and Kasey Butcher of West Bend.
The students each presented individually to two classrooms. They were given three weeks to prepare their presentations and cater their approach to their assigned grade levels ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.
“We do a teaching project every semester in this clinical, and they typically present to each other on some type of key learning they attained,” Truse said. “Being able to get out into the community again since the onset of the pandemic is great.”
The presentations went over how to properly wash your hands and what can happen if you let germs linger. Some of the presentations included books and songs about handwashing and experiments using glitter, pepper, and more.
“Hand hygiene and germ control is super important for our students to learn going into flu season,” Oakfield Elementary School Nurse, Mekenzie Bowe, said. “We always try to reinforce the importance of handwashing, but learning it today in such a fun, engaging way is much more impactful for our students.”
MPTC nursing student, Nick Santiago, demonstrated the impact of hand washing by bringing in petri dishes with samples he took from his own hands. The samples showed the amount of bacteria that can grow after washing your hands properly, washing with just cold water, and not washing at all.
“The germs were nasty,” an Oakfield Elementary fifth grader said about the experience. “Not washing your hands makes way more germs than when you wash your hands with hot water.”
In November, Truse’s nursing students partnered with Oakfield School District to assist with hearing and vision screening. They were asked to come back and work with the students again–this time with a focus on teaching them.
“It is important for students to learn how to adapt clinical care across the lifespan ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics,” Truse said. “We as a nursing program love for students to have interactions and experiences with people of all ages. Our goal is to continue partnering with schools within our communities to create impactful learning experiences for all.”
Oakfield Elementary is Truse’s hometown elementary school, so the partnership between the schools brings her education-to-teaching journey full circle.
“Being back in Oakfield and working with such an amazing district is an honor,” Truse said. “Walking the halls of the schools I once attended, seeing familiar faces that shaped my own childhood education, and guiding our nursing students through such a neat experience was all around incredibly rewarding.”
The event showcased local nonprofits that decorated a unique tree for display around the THELMA facility. The decorated trees were listed for silent auction bidding and funds raised supported the nonprofit.
The Diversity Relations tree, Candy Cane Lane, was one of over 35 trees decorated for the event! In support of MPTC’s mission of growing minds, businesses, and communities through innovative learning experiences, attendees were to encouraged to view our tree and envision students from all ages and walks of life choosing their path/lane to learn a trade, earn a degree, obtain a certificate, participate in training or simply gain knowledge. White signified an opportunity for a new beginning, a blank page of a notebook that waits to be written upon. Red signified the chance to take action to pursue a professional or personal passion with energy and confidence.
“Moraine Park’s students and employees are active in the community and dedicated to volunteerism. I am proud to work for a organization that is so involved and to work on a team that rises to the occasion when there is a need or want in the community,” said Leslie Laster, director of diversity, accessibility and support services.
On Dec. 6, Moraine Park Cosmetology students hosted their Movie Night-themed fashion show to showcase their final projects. Each student styled a model from head to toe including hair, makeup, and an outfit inspired by a movie of their choosing.
Some of the movies used for inspiration included A Cinderella Story, The Great Gatsby, The Kissing Booth, The Princess and the Frog, Hocus Pocus, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde and more.
Preparation for the event included the students agreeing on a fashion show theme; choosing their movies for inspiration; and researching hairstyles, make-up, and wardrobe to replicate.
“We colored Morgan’s hair a couple months back–blonde underneath and black on top, and it immediately reminded me of Cruella de Vil, so I chose the movie 101 Dalmatians,” Anita, Moraine Park Cosmetology student, said. “She doesn’t have a lot of hair, so I struggled with trying to make it poofy, but I ended up loving how everything ties together.”
Congrats to Moraine Park’s Cosmetology students on a stunning fashion show!
Many thanks to Moraine Park Technical College Academic Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa students, along with staff, students, and community members at MPTC who donated to this year’s Giving Trees! Items were collected through the month of November and delivered the first week of December.
Giving Tree on Fond du Lac campusMailia Bachleitner (left) delivers to New Beginnings Homeless Shelter.Staff members at Family Promise receive donations.
Over the Atlantic Ocean and 8,273 miles away, Emma Williamson of Zambia, Africa, attends her Moraine Park Marketing and Social Media Management classes. Between acting in Zambia’s most popular local TV show, working for her family businesses and taking classes at Moraine Park, Williamson excels at the non-traditional student experience.
“I chose to pursue my education at Moraine Park because the College offered a completely online learning program, which is beneficial for me because it allows me to be flexible with my schedule and pursue my acting career while still getting my education,” Williamson said.
Williamson is originally from Louisville, Kentucky. In 2010, she moved to Lusaka, Zambia, with her family to be missionaries, but after their contract was up, they loved it too much to leave. She has lived in Zambia for 12 years with her parents and six siblings.
“The culture in Zambia is very different from the United States, but because I’ve lived here for so long, it is sometimes difficult to remember,” Williamson said. “One difference is that there is a much bigger focus on family relationships. Family obligations and duties take high priority in people’s lives here.”
By completing the Marketing and Social Media Management program, Williamson hopes to learn how to market her family’s businesses. Her father owns a woodworking business called Williamson Craftsmen, where they create hand-crafted furniture and home goods. Her mother runs a business called Megan’s Cakery, where they supply authentic tortilla chips and salsa, and frozen cookie dough and waffles to local stores.
“Unlike some common misconceptions about Africa, there are many developed areas like the capital city, Lusaka, where I live, that have businesses, movie theaters, coffee shops, hotels, malls and all the things you see in the United States,” Williamson said.
Williamson is focused on pursuing her acting career and hopes to learn how to market herself and develop her own personal brand. She is currently an actress on Zambia’s largest television show, Mpali, and is very passionate about creating dynamic social media content on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok @EmmaRoseZambia.
Moraine Park is much more than a technical college. For many, it is a starting point, second chance, resource, reset or road to redemption.
For Linda Huckaby and her son Mike, their decisions to attend Moraine Park were both different and uniquely life-changing.
After leaving the Air Force, Mike Huckaby struggled to find the direction and ambition to make a much-needed change. In 2015, he returned to school and started in Moraine Park’s HVAC Installation Technician program–a decision that would change the course of his life for good.
“I chose Moraine Park because it was a college with multiple opportunities,” Mike said. “When I visited campus, the staff were very encouraging and enthusiastic about future students. I am always talking about the experience I had at Moraine Park, and often encourage my employer to recruit from the College.”
Mike graduated in 2017 and began working as a technician for Johnson Controls in Milwaukee. Beyond a stable career, Moraine Park also opened Mike up to student clubs, experiences and many new friends. In his last general education course at Moraine Park, Mike met, began dating and fell in love with his classmate, April, who was in the Medical Assistant program. The two were married in 2020 and recently welcomed their first child.
Through Mike’s education, his mother, Linda Huckaby, proudly watched as her son’s life transformed by his decision to attend Moraine Park. Five years later, after the loss of her husband, she knew she could rely on Moraine Park to help her find her next path.
“After my husband died, I was on the floor for a long time,” Linda said. “Eventually, I had to get up and start setting new goals for myself. Time will go by no matter what. It is never too late to go back to school and do whatever you want to do or be whoever you want to be.”
In 2021, Linda enrolled in Moraine Park’s Accounting program because she would be able to work from home after graduation. Linda struggles with degenerative disc and PTSD, which can make traditional work arrangements difficult.
“On my first day of school at Moraine Park, I was a deer in the headlights,” she said. “After class, Steve Pepper, Moraine Park’s student veterans specialist, had to help me jumpstart my car–I was so nervous I had kept it running!”
Since enrolling in Moraine Park, Linda has been awarded multiple scholarships, received counseling, joined the Fond du Lac Area Women’s Fund Development Committee and even got her real estate license in hopes of combining real estate and accounting in a future career.
“I am really happy for my mom that she is getting her life in gear at Moraine Park,” Mike said. “It is never too late to start over, and every step you take to better your life is worth seizing.”
The Board of Canvassers reconvened this week, Nov. 16, and formally confirmed that Moraine Park Technical College’s 2022 referendum passed with 57.4% favored votes. The College was favorable in all ten district counties with 78,549 ‘yes’ votes out of 136,864 votes total–a landslide according to Greg Stensland, Radio Plus news director.
“When I am asked why I think we had such a high favorability, I share a couple things,” President Baerwald said. “The first is that we have a strong message. Our purpose is all about training the workforce of the future, and when you tell constituents we are going to have 14,000 manufacturing job openings and 8,000 healthcare jobs openings in the next 10 years, I think people reflect and realize Moraine Park needs the resourcing.”
The College held a campus celebration to commemorate the official passing of the referendum. President Baerwald spoke about the future of the institution and what people can expect moving forward with the projects.
“Moraine Park has touched so many people over our 110 years of history that there is hardly anybody in this community that has not either experienced Moraine Park personally or knows someone in their circle that is connected to the College,” President Baerwald said. “People are recognizing us, people are congratulating us, and I do not think we are the best-kept secret any longer.”
Moving Forward
Advanced Manufacturing and Trades, Fond du Lac
In spring 2023, the Advanced Manufacturing and Trades center will be the College’s first visible sign of construction in Fond du Lac. This project is expected to break ground in May 2023 and will be completed in two phases–the Automation, Innovation, and Robotics Center (AIR) and the campus B wing—with expected completion in the summer of 2024. Classes beginning in the fall 2024 semester will be the first to use this new section of campus.
Fire Training Facility
Design meetings on the fire training facility will begin towards the end of 2022. The location of the fire training facility is still being determined. Groundbreaking will occur in July 2023, and the project should be completed by the end of the year. Instruction is expected to begin in the Fire Training Facility in the spring 2024 semester.
Manufacturing, Automation and Robotics Lab, West Bend
Design for the Manufacturing, Automation and Robotics Lab in West Bend will kick off in early 2023 with construction starting later in the year. This is slated to be a year-long project, which means the new instructional spaces will be ready for use in the fall 2024 semester.
Health and Human Services Facility, Fond du Lac
The Health and Human Services Facility project will begin in July 2024 and will be completed in two phases. This project will be finished during the summer of 2025, which means the instruction will begin in the new health and human services wing in the fall 2025 semester.
World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…“
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings, and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918 marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far-reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans’ service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first “Veterans Day Proclamation,” which stated: “In order to ensure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans’ organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible.”
The signing of HR7786, June 1, 1954, this ceremony changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts.
On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.
In 1958, the White House advised VA’s General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989, when VA was elevated to a cabinet-level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee’s chairman.
The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.
The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations, and the American people.
Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.
Source: Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. (2015, July 20). History of Veterans Day. In U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp
Today is a historic day for Moraine Park Technical College as we celebrate the success of our 2022 referendum. While still unofficial until Nov. 15, Moraine Park’s referendum was well received by all district communities—many showed up to vote and the majority voted “yes!” Today is one of celebration! We look forward to the growth of our campus facilities and helping local partners meet their workforce demands. We would like to extend sincere gratitude to our district communities, business and industry, alumni, employees and friends, for their continued support and belief in the mission and value of Moraine Park Technical College as we imagine what’s next together.
Votes will be certified by a board of canvassers Nov. 15, which determines the official outcome of the election.
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