Moraine Park Technical College earned fourth place in Humana, Inc.’s Go365 National Step Challenge. Go365 is Humana’s health and wellness rewards program focused onimproving the fitness of employees from companies across the country. Moraine Park has been utilizing the Go365 wellness platform for three years as an employee benefits tool.

“We implemented Go365 in 2016,” Lori Schrage, benefits coordinator at Moraine Park said. “The tool not only encourages employees to be more active, it also provides rewards for doing so.”

The National Step Challenge is a competition in which employer groups with two or more Go365 members compete for the highest team average step count. All winning teams receive a donation to their local member food bank of Feeding America® in their name. 

As a result of Moraine Park’s efforts, they placed fourth earning 10,000 meals, which will benefit individuals in eastern Wisconsin and the MPTC district, through Feeding America.

The Challenge featured 2,939 competing organizations that collectively logged 10.6 B steps earning one million donated meals. 

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

It’s always fun to get updates from our alumni! We recently heard from Sandra, class of ’81.

“I am many years beyond my education at Moraine Park, but I still embrace the memories. I graduated in 1981 with an associate degree in Food Manufacturing Technology – Dairy, the same year that my daughter graduated from high school!  My 26 registered classmates were 20+ years younger than me.  Sadly, only 6 of us graduated.  Some of us earned a trip to the state of Washington to compete in dairy judging. What a wonderful experience!

“After graduating from Moraine Park, I worked at Hillshire Farms in New London in quality control, research and development, and other food-related industry positions. In 2010, I retired from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection – Division of Food Safety after 15 years of service where I was a Laboratory Evaluation Officer. 

“I couldn’t have done it without my degree and the staff and instructors at Moraine Park Technical College. I like sharing my Moraine Park Story. I hope to encourage potential students of all ages to attend and get a degree.”

A brand is worthless if it does not connect with the right audience in a responsive and relevant way was one takeaway at the Moraine Park Technical College Economic and Workforce Development’s Business Forum help on Friday, October 18, 2019 at the Fond du Lac campus.

A panel of business professionals shared their expertise on “Digital Recruitment” bringing experience from a diverse range of industries including construction, trucking and manufacturing. Sarah Pantol, HR Director at FLASH, shared her experience with using various platforms to develop relations, stay relevant and be responsive to candidates. She uses a variety of platforms, website landing pages and videos to engage her target audience to stay relevant and speed up the recruitment process.

Mercedes Tucker, Digital Marketing Coordinator at C.D. Smith Construction, Inc., spoke to the importance of spending more time focused on your culture then strategy. She utilizes employee brand ambassadors to promote open positions to their networks.

Jeff Kennedy, Labor Relations Manager at John Deere – Horicon Works spoke to his 3 step approach of researching perceptions, utilizing agency support to manage digital marketing and then restructuring roles to best serve their employees.  Jeff wanted to reduce the number of touch points and interviews a candidate had to do as part of the process so he consolidated skills assessments and automated communication.

There were over 30 attendees representing a broad range of industries from non-profit to manufacturing that are all faced with challenges finding workforce to fill open positions and no longer finding as much success with traditional recruitment practices. During the event, the participants shared best practices during table breakout sessions and had the opportunity to ask questions during the panel presentations.

“MPTC business forums are a great way for a busy professional to get a compact and high value dose of useful information and professional connecting” shared one attendee.

Mark your calendars to save the date for the next Business Networking Forum scheduled on Friday, May 1, 2020 from 8:00 – 10:30 am on the Moraine Park Fond du Lac campus.

Questions can be directed to training@morainepark.edu or 920-924-3449

Moraine Park Technical College students and staff will host a Christmas in a Shoebox drive, collecting items for our local troops who are serving our country overseas and away from family during the holiday season.

Donations will be accepted until Friday, Nov. 8, and can be dropped off at room K-323 on the Beaver Dam campus, or with the Student Veteran Specialist in room C-003.3 at the Fond du Lac campus Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Moraine Park’s goal is to collect enough items to fill 200 postal service large flat rate boxes and have them in the hands of our troops stationed overseas by the holidays.

The packages will be assembled on Nov. 13 on the Beaver Dam campus, and students and staff will also have the opportunity to fill out note cards to send a personal message of encouragement, or holiday wishes.

Donations should be new and no larger than shoebox-sized. Some suggested items are personal hygiene products like deodorant, eye drops, Q-tips, and baby wipes, or snacks such as beef jerky, sunflowers seeds, nuts, granola bars, and flavored drink mixes. Additionally, miscellaneous items like current magazines, batteries, paperback books, and small travel games are great ways to let the service members know they’re remembered and help to bring some joy to their holiday season.

For questions on Christmas in a Shoebox,  contact Steve Pepper, student veterans specialist,  at spepper1@morainepark.edu or 920-924-3489.

On Wednesday, October 16, the Moraine Park Student Nurses Association (SNA) sponsored their annual Healthcare Career Fair.

Students and community members were invited to network, see what careers are available in the healthcare field, and research continuing education opportunities.

In total, the event had 20 different booths and 12 door prize winners.

The SNA is already preparing for next year’s fair, which is being planned for mid-October. Stay tuned for more information on the date and details.

morainepark.edu

Celebrate Fair Trade Month at Moraine Park- Tuesday, October 29!

• Global Fair Trade Market from 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.
• Local environmental sustainability organizations will be on site starting at 5 p.m.
• Keynote speaker, Miranda Paul, author of the inspirational story of the women of Gambia, “One Plastic Bag”, begins at 6 p.m.

More details can be found here, or by emailing alemke2@morainepark.edu.

With the support of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Regional People of Color, Fit Oshkosh, Wisconsin Public Television, Thelma Arts Center, and Moraine Park Technical College, the showing of “BOSS: The Black Experience in Business” was shown at Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts in Fond du Lac on Wednesday, September 18. Casa Del Tequila provided dinner before the event and UW-Extension Youth Development Educators provided activities for children during the event.

“BOSS: The Black Experience in Business” is a must see two hour documentary that follows the lives of African American entrepreneurs in America over hundreds of years. It is an emotional story of discrimination and racial violence. Despite these barriers, the film also highlighted stories of courage, resilience, and success.

One such story is about Berry Gordy, Jr., the founder of Motown Records.  In 1957, already a successful songwriter, Gordy borrowed $800 from his family to start an R&B record company. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of America. Gordy had a unique gift for recognizing musical talent. Soul music artists under the Motown label include: Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Diana Ross and the Supremes. Motown was the most successful record label of soul music for its time. Gordy official retired from the entertainment industry on September 24, 2019

Another story is about Ursula Burns. Burns, the former CEO of Xerox, was the first African American woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Burns started her career at Xerox in 1980 as an intern. She held various positions there before serving as CEO from 2009 until 2016.  She led a workforce of over 140,000 employees. She went on to hold the position of chairman of the board at Xerox until 2017 and has held numerous other board positions, including one at Exxon Mobil. She is currently chairman and CEO of an Amsterdam-based telecommunications provider. 

Talented African American businessmen and women have been building successful companies in America for hundreds of years. Today, building upon their predecessors’ contributions, courage, sacrifices and willingness to help each other, we see African American managers and CEOs in most large corporations. To view “BOSS: The Black Experience in Business” check out the official website: https://to.pbs.org/2Tn9klg. The documentary can be rented or purchased on Amazon or iTunes.

Everyone wants to get ahead, race car drivers, jockeys, and yes, even college students. Finding ways to stay ahead of rising educational costs can be a huge benefit during the college years.

Students at Moraine Park already enjoy some of the lowest tuition rates among Wisconsin’s colleges and universities. Even so, another part of keeping college affordable is finding ways to decrease the amount of time (and money) spent completing a degree. At Moraine Park. students have a unique option to minimize their costs and maximize their credit earning potential through the school’s Credit by Exam opportunities.

The Credit by Exam process allows students to earn college credit and fulfill program requirements through the successful completion of an exam. Taking advantage of the Credit by Exam program can certainly put MPTC students ahead as they can obtain college credits in less time and for less money than they would by attending (and paying for) a traditional course.
Interested in learning more about Credit by Exam?

Visit MPTC’s Credit by Exam webpage https://www.morainepark.edu/admission-and-registration/enroll-in-a-program/credit-for-prior-learning/credit-by-exam/

Contact Greg Mittelsteadt-MPTC Credit for Prior Learning Specialist

Office Phone 920-924-3215
Email cpl@morainepark.edu

Starting for Spring 2020, students interested in attending the College’s Nursing Assistant Technical Diploma program (Moraine Park Technical College course 543-300) will be able to apply for Admission to the College online. Students can access the application by navigating to www.morainepark.edu/apply. The online application became available September 3, 2019. Students will need to have completed the application, paid the one-time, non-refundable $30 application fee, and completed the Criminal Background Check process in order to be accepted to the Nursing Assistant program. There is no placement testing or transcript required for admission to this program.

Once students are accepted to the Nursing Assistant program, they will have a program code that will allow them to register for a section of 543-300. Students without this program code will be unable to register for course 543-300 beginning with registration for Spring 2020. (Fall 2019 registration is not impacted). More information about the Nursing Assistant program can be found on our website at https://www.morainepark.edu/programs/nursing+assistant/.