Jackie Fuller, of Theresa, graduated from Moraine Park’s Cosmetology program in 2002. She worked as a hairstylist at Cedar Community Assisted Living in West Bend for 11 years until a new passion led her back through Moraine Park’s doors.

At Cedar Community, Fuller fell in love with transforming people’s hair and putting smiles on the residents’ faces, especially in hard times. Eventually, watching residents fall ill and experiencing loss in her own family took a toll, and she realized she was destined to do more.

“By the time I was 27, I had lost both of my parents,” Fuller said. “Watching them get sick without knowing how to help was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. Being so young and not having my parents was, and still is, a challenge. I felt driven to learn how to help people in their time of need.”

Fuller enrolled in Moraine Park’s Nursing program in 2020 and will graduate in December. Since starting the program, she has become the vice president of the Student Nursing Association and a member of the Beaver Dam Campus Student Senate.

Outside of school, Fuller enjoys spending time with her family. She has a fiancé and two teenage sons. The boys both fully support their mom going back to school and love to help her study with flashcards and quizzes.

“My kids are getting older,” she said. “I want to be able to show them they can be anything they want to be and that it’s never too late.”

Fuller was recently hired at Froedtert in West Bend where she works as a critical care technician. After she graduates, she will stay at Froedtert as a nurse and plans to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). She still tends to her first passion by keeping her cosmetology license up to date.

“From my first appointment at Moraine Park, I was encouraged to make steps forward in my career,” Fuller said. “It took me a while to push through those doors, but I am so glad I did. Moraine Park has been there every step of the way, allowing me to explore both of my passions.”

Thank you, Frontline Workers.

It’s no secret frontline workers fuel the economy. Each year, more than 1,000 Moraine Park alumni enter the workforce and make an impact on local industries and current worker shortages. We are incredibly proud of the many alumni in our communities and the passionate work they do to keep us moving forward.

For more stories like Jackie’s, check out our Spring 2022 NEXT Magazine.

Pictured above: President Bonnie Baerwald and Student Community Impact Coordinator Anne Lemke present Mina Vang-Xiong with her President’s Award.

Moraine Park Technical College is committed to community engagement and student success. The College supports these commitments through the opportunity for students to participate in student community impact and apply their classroom knowledge to an applicable, real-world environment. We encourage students to participate in our community impact awards program where students can track their service-learning or volunteer hours, submit their reflections, and earn a Bronze Award for 25 hours, Silver Award for 50 hours, Gold Award for 100 hours, and President’s Award for 200 hours!

In the Spring, 2022 semester, 29 students earned awards and logged over 1,600 hours of service!  Congratulations to our Spring, 2022 award winners!

Presidents Award

Two graduating students earned the President’s Award for over 200 hours of service each in their time at MPTC!  The students are Alaska Burroughs – Marketing and Social Media; and Mina Vang-Xiong – IT Technical Support and Network Specialist. MPTC President Bonnie Baerwald celebrated with and congratulated each student, stating: “I’m extremely proud of the accomplishments of Mina and Alaska. Each has their own unique story and came to Moraine Park Technical College to explore and create new career opportunities. In addition to their work and college obligations, their volunteer efforts exemplify the college values of continuous improvement, collaboration, and impactful learning. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them!”

Gold Award

Completing 100-199 hours of service-learning or volunteering.

Burroughs, Alaska – Marketing and Social Media

Dziuba, Austin – Marketing and Social Media

Vang-Xiong, Mina – IT Technical Support and Network Specialist

Silver Award

Completing 50-99 hours of service-learning or volunteering.

Burroughs, Alaska – Marketing and Social Media

Dziuba, Austin – Marketing and Social Media

Hackett, Richard – Leadership Development

Rogers, Dorothy – Paralegal

Smith, Brooke – Medical Assistant

Vang-Xiong, Mina – IT Technical Support and Network Specialist

Bronze Award

Completing 25-49 hours of service-learning or volunteering.

Bille, Ellen – Medical Assistant

Brantmeier, Samantha – Medical Assistant

Burroughs, Alaska – Marketing and Social Media

Carbajal, Yaneli – Medical Assistant

Corona, Ruby – Medical Assistant

Davis, Jada – Medical Assistant

Detert, Jozee – Medical Assistant

Devries, Kelly, Medical Assistant

Dziuba, Austin – Marketing and Social Media

Goldbach, Courtney – Medical Assistant

Hackett, Richard – Leadership Development

Jetzer, Jennifer – Medical Assistant

Krause, Michael – Leadership Development

Lear, Jamie – Medical Assistant

May, Chantel – Medical Assistant

Neitzel, Amanda – Medical Assistant

Nieman, Emily – Medical Assistant

Nieman, Olivia – Medical Assistant

Olson, Kara – Leadership Development

Peplinski, Samantha – Medical Assistant

Race, Miranda – Medical Assistant

Roecker, Kayla – Medical Assistant

Schick, Hailey – Medical Assistant

Smith, Brooke – Medical Assistant

Swedowski, Stephanie – Medical Assistant

Ward, Sydney – Medical Assistant

Wendt, Madelynn – Medical Assistant

40+ Nursing students in Julie Lepianka and Ashley Gilson’s Mental Health and Community Concepts courses recently completed their community advocacy projects as part of our Spring, 2022 service-learning opportunities.

Julie said, “Everyone has their own story. Each of us has a bigger purpose on this earth to share our story. Thank you for being vulnerable in your sharing! It was a privilege to teach all of you in this important community mental health learning. Best of luck in your final semester!”

Students spent over 200 hours researching and collaborating with community partners in Fond du Lac, Washington, and Dodge Counties to learn more about substance abuse, foster families, gun violence, elderly depression, bullying, human trafficking, poverty, domestic violence, sexual assault, and more. Students formulated detailed plans to address how a nurse can 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 in May. Ashley said, “My students did a phenomenal job assessing their surrounding communities for health concerns and building advocacy plans that we, as nurses, have the power to implement within their communities. These students were drawn to nursing because of a desire to care, to serve, and to help…..and they did just that!“

Congratulations on all of this great work on important mental health issues in our MPTC community!

Moraine Park Technical College awarded its annual business and industry partnership awards, recognizing valued partners of 2021. The College’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) recognizes five partnership awards each year: Excellence in Partnership, Employer of the Year, Innovation, New Partner of the Year, and Workforce Development Champion. 

The Excellence in Partnership award is given to an organization involved in several areas of the college including advisory committees, Foundation donations, Handshake, EWD contracts, and boot camp internships. The 2021 award recipient is J.F. Ahern. Ahern is actively involved in MPTC’s program advisory committees, contributing their industry knowledge to the growth of the College’s students and program curriculum. They are generous donors to the Foundation’s annual scholarship fund, the Forming Alliances to Cultivate Talent (FACT), and the Promise program scholarships. Ahern is also a major donor for Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac Automation, Innovation and Robotics (AIR) Center project efforts. They were collaborators with EWD in creating an online programming and sponsoring the Live2Lead professional development training. Finally, Ahern understands the importance of educating our youth on the vital careers needed in today’s manufacturing and trades industries. They achieve this by partnering with many K-12 schools throughout the state to support curriculum development and facilitation, offer job shadowing and facilities tours, and give presentations to high school classrooms on the benefits of joining the trades. 

The Employer of the Year award is given to an employer who has made a significant investment in their staff through a partnership with Moraine Park Technical College. The 2021 award recipient is the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, for being a valued and consistent partner with Moraine Park.  

The Innovation Award is given to an organization that implemented an innovative solution to a workforce challenge. The 2021 award recipient is The Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac, for their participation in the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessment. This partnership with Moraine Park provided opportunities to connect with the community and the youth through the development and growth of the Boys and Girls club team members. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work is imperative for community growth and development of all people, and the Boys and Girls Club took an impactful step with this partnership and the work they continue to do around DEI to better serve our youth and the community.  

The New Partner of the Year award is given to an organization that supports Moraine Park through contributions, sponsorships, or involvement for the first time. The 2021 award recipient is Whisker formerly known as AutoPets. Whisker has been a strong new partner with MPTC as a Workforce Advancement Training grant partner to run multiple Supervision courses in 2021. They were a major sponsor at the Dodge County SHRM DEI conference, and employee and MPTC alumnus, Tyler Soto, is a great advocate and ambassador for the college.  

The Workforce Development Champion award is given to an individual focused on improving the skills and retention of personnel in the region and has positively impacted workforce issues around recruitment, training, and career development. The 2021 award recipient is Jesse Zahn, head of maintenance at MSI Express. MSI’s facility is equipped with automated machinery for filling beverage containers that will eventually find their way to internationally known chain coffee shops and restaurants. To ensure his staff is fully skilled in reducing downtime, Zahn sends multiple associates to the Industrial Maintenance boot camp each year. He now has developed an educational pathway and established a plan of advancement with his employees who complete the boot camp. In addition, some of his associates have expressed interest in seeking an electromechanical degree from Moraine Park and Zahn is committed to helping them achieve this goal through a combination of tuition assistance and help in facilitating the enrollment process. 

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

Moraine Park Technical College will host Tech Knowledge College, a summer camp for students entering grades 6 to 8. This event gives participants an interactive look at the skills and careers needed today and in the future. Registration is now open for this annual three-day camp, held August 9-11, at Moraine Park Technical College’s Fond du Lac campus.

The sessions for this year’s event are The Business of Drones, Rescue 9-1-1, Lego Sumo Robots, Respiratory Therapy, All About HealthCare, Courtroom is in Session, Inside the World of Law Enforcement, and Salon Techniques. The sessions are available on a first come, first served basis, and early registration is encouraged.

The cost of Tech Knowledge College is $115 and includes a choice of two sessions, a t-shirt, and a morning snack and lunch each day. The camp is held from 9 a.m. -3:15 p.m. each day.

For full details including session descriptions and registration information, visit morainepark.edu/tkc.

Moraine Park Technical College held its annual General Education Development (GED) and High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) graduation ceremony on May 26. There were 96 GED/HSED graduates for the 2021-22 school year. 

Jebichi Yator of Fox Lake and Gretta Hanna of Columbus served as this year’s student speakers. 

“I want to thank my teachers at Moraine Park for their support, patience and guidance,” Yator said. “Completing my GED and enrolling in Moraine Park’s Nursing program will change my life and my children’s lives, too. I can’t wait to start changing lives myself by becoming a nurse.” 

The GED/HSED students had to pass all five subject portions of the nationally recognized GED tests: Reasoning through Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Mathematical Reasoning and Civics. GED students must also complete Career Awareness training. Students obtaining an HSED are required to complete both Employability Skills and Health Literacy training. 

“Congratulations to all of our 2022 GED/HSED graduates,” Pete Snyder, Moraine Park’s associate dean of adult education, said. “Our graduates worked full-time jobs, cared for children, and supported their parents–all while coming to school. These accomplishments are special, and they earned the right to be here tonight.” 

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

Mina Vang-Xiong was married at 17 and graduated from Fond du Lac High School in 2005. She went on to pursue nursing at UW-Oshkosh, later becoming a certified ophthalmic assistant. After seven years and having three children, she felt a pull to spend more time with her family and in her community.

“I wanted to be able to spend more time with my children,” Vang-Xiong said. “In the medical field, I
knew I wouldn’t be able to live the life I wanted. Information Technology (IT) is something learnable and will allow me to be more flexible. I know that after I graduate, I’ll be able to work in any industry I want, and I am really excited about my future.”

Vang-Xiong enrolled in Moraine Park’s dual-degree IT program in spring 2020 and will graduate in 2022 with both IT Network Specialist and IT Technical Support Specialist associate degrees. After graduating, her future goals include getting a job at an IT company and working toward a bachelor’s degree.

By enrolling at Moraine Park, Vang-Xiong found not only more time to spend with her family, but also more time to engage with her communities. She is vice president of Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac Student Senate, president of the IT Club, a member of Phi Theta Kappa Academic Honor Society and had the opportunity to work with Moraine Park’s IT department as a technical support assistant.

“Being involved and volunteering is an emotional experience that allows me to be more aware of
the needs in my community,” Vang-Xiong said. “I believe when schools, parents and communities partner together, great things can happen in the lives of children and young adults.”

Outside of Moraine Park she volunteers at her children’s school events, engages with her local Hmong community and enjoys practicing her hobbies of fruit carving and baking. Recently, she was awarded a Bronze MPTC Student Impact Award for completing more than 25 hours of volunteer work.

“Stepping outside of my job and into volunteering has given me the chance to learn new professional skills while sharpening others including public speaking, managing teams, fundraising and coordinating events,” she said.

Vang-Xiong’s proudest moment was volunteering as a traditional Hmong dance instructor with the Fond du Lac Nkauj Hmoob Kaj Siab dance team to help younger generations learn more about
their culture, become more engaged in their community and build self-esteem.

“Career transitions are like onions,” Vang-Xiong said. “They are complex and there is usually more to them than what we see on the surface. This career switch has kept me on my toes, and this new chapter in life has created a network of new relationships, broader access to new information, career advice and community support.”

Read more stories like Mina’s in our Spring 2022 NEXT Magazine.

Take a book. Start a conversation. Change our world.

Moraine Park is bringing the Little Free Library (LFL) – Read in Color initiative to all three campus libraries. The initiative brings diverse books to LFL boxes across the country, creating a more inclusive and equitable world for all.

At Moraine Park, the launch of the Little Free Library will feature books that provide perspectives on racism and social justice; celebrate BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized voices; and experiences from many identities for readers.

This project was inspired by MPTC’s Innovation 2025 values of collaboration, continuous improvement, impactful learning, and inclusivity, and is brought to the College by Moraine Park’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cross-Functional team in partnership with Student Services.

“Little Free Library believes everyone should be able to see themselves in the pages of a book,” said LFL Executive Director Greig Metzger. “We also believe a broader awareness of the diverse life experiences in America can break down barriers and nurture a deeper understanding of our society’s inequities.”

The books can be found on the Fond du Lac campus near the library. This initiative will be brought to the Beaver Dam and West Bend campuses by the end of the summer.

(Sourced from https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history)

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2022 will occur on Monday, May 30.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

The Birthplace of Memorial Day and Early Observances

The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.

By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.

Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.

It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. And some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of formerly enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.

Waterloo—which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

Memorial Day Traditions and Rituals

Cities and towns across the United States host Memorial Day parades each year, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. Some people wear a red poppy in remembrance of those fallen in war—a tradition that began with a World War I poem. On a less somber note, many people take weekend trips or throw parties and barbecues on the holiday, perhaps because Memorial Day weekend—the long weekend comprising the Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day and Memorial Day itself—unofficially marks the beginning of summer.

History.com. (2022, May 16). Memorial Day. In History Channel. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history