Moraine Park staff and faculty gathered for an end of the year celebration and cornhole tournament! Needless to say, a fun time was had by all!
Fond du Lac
Beaver Dam
West Bend
Cornhole Winners!
The hard work and academic achievement of Moraine Park Technical College students was recognized during the College’s annual Student Awards Banquet held at The Golf Club at Camelot in Lomira on May 10.
Moraine Park presented the 2019 Student of the Year Award to Ashley Martin of Fond du Lac. The Student of the Year Award is designed to recognize a student who excelled in and outside of the classroom and has taken full advantage of the opportunities that Moraine Park has made available for them.
The 2019-20 District Student Ambassador Award was presented to Barbara Turner of Beaver Dam. The Moraine Park District Student Ambassador Award identifies outstanding students in the technical college system, with nominations solicited from faculty and staff in the spring semester of each year.
Technical Achievement Awards were presented to 33 students. To receive this award, recipients must be enrolled in a technical diploma program and have maintained a 3.25 GPA. They are judged on classroom participation and other contributions and characteristics that exemplify an outstanding student. The 2019 recipients were August Baumgartner of West Bend, Alex Canfield of Jackson, Calin Eigner of Iron Ridge, Zach Fahrenkrug of Campbellsport, Zach Franck of Prairie du Sac, Ben Henriksen of Beaver Dam, Aaron Hess of Richfield, Genevieve Hicks of Beaver Dam, Keisha Krezman of Fond du Lac, Mitch Lochen of West Bend, Nicholas Martinez of Fond du Lac, Nic Nielsen of West Bend, Nicole Nowicki of Beaver Dam, Hunter Scannell of West Bend, Isaac Schrage of West Bend, Zachary Wilson of Adell, Pete Cruckson of Fond du Lac, Brady Detert of Beaver Dam, Troy Essmann of Oconomowoc, Thomas Freiberg of Campbellsport, Nick Giudice of Waupun, Alexander Hoepfner of Fond du Lac, Zac Hoogeveen of Randolph, Joe Jasinski of Adell, Michael Moon of Beaver Dam, Derek Mueller of Port Washington, Melanie Pitr of Slinger, Mitchell Regan of Hartford, Andrew Robinson of Cedarburg, Michael Schaefer of Juneau, Alex Sippel of Saint Cloud, Daniel Sowin of Sheboygan Falls, and Anastasia Szczesny of Iron Ridge.
The Campus Impact Award recognizes students who have served the College by participating in a college focus group, a college-related function, or a club/student government activity or project. Other considerations include GPA, reliability and follow-through. In total, 18 awards were presented, recipients were Trina Anderson of Fox Lake, Alizabeth Barnes of Waupun, Noah Bille of Brandon, Isabel Clark of Chilton, Kevin Fritsch of Fond du Lac, Christine Gil of Randolph, Thomas Holman of Hartford, Joe Jasinski of Adell, Sheri Laidler of Campbellsport, Bekah McCardell of West Bend, Ashton Mislivecek of Hillsboro, Abby Muenchow of Horicon, Peggy Rider of West Bend, Isaac Schrage of West Bend, Jerod Splan of Iron Ridge, Anastasia Szczesny of Iron Ridge, Queenie Weesen of Mequon, and Janine Williams of Fond du Lac.
The Meritorious Service Award is granted to students who have served the College through their leadership and participation in co-curricular activities such as student clubs, student government or other volunteer opportunities. This year’s 45 recipients include Alyssa Ahlstrom of Van Dyne, Austin Barber of Fond du Lac, Danielle Barron of Berlin, Maurice Beck of Campbellsport, Jacob Berger of North Fond du Lac, Taylor Branski of West Bend, Kerwana Clayborn of Fond du Lac, Deborah Davis of Oshkosh, Derek DeChant of Randolph, Brady Detert of Beaver Dam, Calin Eigner of Iron Ridge, Tamara Freeman of Beaver Dam, Nick Giudice of Waupun, Eileen Grammas of Beaver Dam, Connor Gray of Cottage Grove, Mollea Greylord of Fond du Lac, Derek Jackson of Rubicon, Mitch Jacobs of Slinger, Shayenne A. Jaffke of Hartford, Ty Kaage of Oshkosh, Corina Kanwischer of Hartford, Brittany Kjell of Rubicon, Kelsey Kliefoth of Menasha, Jay Kroncke of West Bend, Kaleb Krueger of Mayville, Jessica Leibham of West Bend, Heidi Lucas of West Bend, Jesse Mack of Beaver Dam, Christian McCreary of West Bend, Jodie Meyer of Oshkosh, Rebecca Moreno of West Bend, Kellie Murray of West Bend, Nicole Peterson of Eldorado, Zack Petit of Watertown, Melanie Pitrof of Slinger, Zack Rabideau of Jackson, Gretchen Rauls of Fond du Lac, Susan Rodencal of Fond du Lac, Patrick Rupprecht of Randolph, Lauryn Slade of Hartford, Amy Spiekerman of West Bend, Alex Tischedndorf of Kewaskum, Nicole Toombs of Ripon, Alyssa Wescott of Theresa, and Christina Whitehouse of Waupun.
The Leadership & Service Award is reserved for members of Moraine Park’s Student Government. A student’s comprehensive level of commitment to the College and their representation of the student body through their attendance and engagement in Student Government and its related opportunities are taken into consideration during award selection. The 12 award recipients include Alden Broome of Beaver Dam, Dominic DeLaura of Slinger, Zach Fahrenkrug of Campbellsport, Thomas Freiberg of Campbellsport, Brad Hetzel of Lowell, Ashley Martin of North Fond du Lac, Michael Moon of Beaver Dam, Leah Pietrangelo of West Bend, Joshua Strnad of Rio, Jonathan Szczesny of Iron Ridge, Sam Turner of Baraboo, and Elizabeth Wustrack of Fond du Lac.
Student government leadership recognition included Jonathan Szczesny of Iron Ridge, Beaver Dam Student Senate president; Elizabeth Wustrack of Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac Student Senate president; Leah Pietrangelo of West Bend, West Bend Student Senate president; Kevin Fritsch of Fond du Lac, District Student Government president; Queenie Weesen of Mequon, Wisconsin Student Government lt. governor; Joshua Strnad of Rio, Wisconsin Student Government governor.
For more information about Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
Moraine Park Technical College nursing program celebrated the pinning of 51 students at their spring ceremony on May 17. This symbolic event represents the beginning of a nursing career. As well, it serves as an end to the Moraine Park journey and a celebration of the opportunities that lay ahead.
Additionally, the College is also celebrating a historic year by graduating 12 males from the program for the first time ever.
“We are seeing more non-traditional students in fields that have historically been either male or female dominated,” Bonnie Baerwald, president of Moraine Park Technical College said. “The increase of males in the nursing field shows that success in the industry is a result of educated skills, not gender, and brings the opportunity for a diverse work atmosphere within our healthcare systems.”
The students who received their nursing pins at the spring 2019 ceremony are Alyssa Ahlstrom of Westfield; Rosie Alsum of Brandon; Lindsay Birschbach of Fond du Lac; Erica Breitenstein of West Bend; Megan Calbaum of Princeton; Nicole Claerbout of West Bend; Danielle Cleland of Fond du Lac; Jamie Droppers of West Bend; Amanda Dylak of Beaver Dam; April Eck of Potosi; Briar Eck of Potosi; Nikki Eiring of Fond du Lac; Melissa Endries of Pipe; Katherine Erickson of Cedarburg; Carissa Ewald of Ripon; Ben Falter of West Bend; Cassie Florine of Hartford; Hunter Godfroy of Oakfield; Holly Hoagland of West Bend; Emma Holland of Waupun; Kelly Jacobs of Fond du Lac; Andrew Keel of Beaver Dam; Aubrey Kerr of West Bend; Maggie Kollmann of Fond du Lac; Caroline Krebs of West Bend; Jamie Nicholas of Waupun; Jared Obendorfer of West Bend; Jennifer Plummer of Sun Prairie; Jonathan Ratzel of Fredonia; Parker Resop of Horicon; Katie Retzlaff of North Lake; Jennifer Roeseler of Fond du Lac; Katrina Salva of Watertown; Frederick Schellgell of Oshkosh; Amanda Schmidt of Beaver Dam; Julie Schumacher of Fond du Lac; Catherine Seibel of Fond du Lac; Kaitlyn Shallow of Watertown; Katelyn Sharp of Ripon; Natasha Sokoloff of New Holstein; Riley Stegemeyer of Slinger; Jonathan Szczesny of Horicon; Courtney Tennies of Kewaskum; Alexi Turnage of Fond du Lac; Chelsea Turner of Fond du Lac; Mikayla Van Ooyen of Kewaskum; Christian Walding of Milwaukee; Aubrey Weidemann of Columbus; Kaitlyn Woo of West Bend; Shelby Wulff of Waupun; Tanya Zangl of Fond du Lac.
The students accepted their nursing diplomas at the College’s annual commencement ceremony on May 18. They will continue studying through the early part of the summer in preparation for their National Council Licensure Examination to earn their Registered Nursing License. In 2018, Moraine Park’s nursing pass rates were an impressive 99 percent, and currently, the program ranks in the top 10 for nursing programs in Wisconsin.
For more information on Moraine Park’s nursing program, visit morainepark.edu/nursing.
If at first, you find success, keep looking for new ways to grow! Moraine Park alumnus and current student, Cory Bennett of Beaver Dam, has been doing just that.
After graduating from Beaver Dam High School in 1999, Cory found employment and began to build his life.
“I’ve always succeeded in school, but didn’t consider continuing my education right after high school,” Cory said. “I found success in my employment, but eventually I wanted more for myself.”
In 2010, Cory began his mechanical design technology degree at Moraine Park. It didn’t take him long to adapt to college life and soon he was a member of the student senate and Phi Thea Kappa, a 2-year college high honors program. He was also a part of the National Community College Aerospace Scholarship Program, an elite group of students who were given the opportunity to participate in research, space rover robotic design, and mock missions. In fact, of the 6,000 applicants, only 200 were chosen nationwide.
“This opportunity was a result of my membership with Phi Theta Kappa,” he said. “The aerospace certificate is just one of the many opportunities that came as a result of my time at Moraine Park.”
There’s no denying that Cory worked hard at the College, and that was noticed by not only his instructors but also by a local employer, Wells Vehicle Electronics in Fond du Lac. Cory had uploaded his resume to Wisconsin Tech Connect, a statewide online employment tool for students and graduates of the Wisconsin Technical College System. It didn’t take long for Wells to find Cory’s resume, and he secured a job two months before graduation. When he graduated from Moraine Park in 2014, he was ready to work.
“I’m very fortunate to be at Wells,” Cory said. “I started working in product design and advanced to automation when I came back to Moraine Park in 2016.”
As a returning student, Cory understood the skills he needed to advance in his career, and that Moraine Park has the tools to help build them. This December he will graduate with his associate degree in electromechanical technology.
“I appreciate that Moraine Park teaches the skills that are needed to succeed in the field,” he said. “The classes are flexible, and they provide useful knowledge that prepares you for life after college.”
It’s clear that Cory sees the value in his education, and he has goals to continue in the future in both the Process Engineering Technology and Quality Assurance programs.
“Moraine Park helps to make the college journey an easy one,” he said. “I know that I will continue to have their support as I grow my career.”
Congrats to Moraine Park’s nursing program on a HUGE accomplishment.
The College’s 2018 National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) Nursing pass scores raised from 96% to 99%!
What this means?
That 99% of Moraine Park Nursing students pass their NCLEX exam!
For comparison, the national pass rate average is 85%.
Congrats to the students and faculty for working hard to provide top-notch nurses ready to provide quality care in the field!
Being an adult student or making the decision to enroll in college isn’t easy. If any current Moraine Park student knows that, it’s Aurelio Rosas of Beaver Dam. Aurelio came to Wisconsin from Crystal City, TX in 2013. As a divorced father of two, he was looking for an opportunity to provide a life for his children.
“I worked as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in Texas,” he said. “I knew I wanted to further my education in healthcare, which is what brought me to Moraine Park.”
He found a home in Beaver Dam with his brother, Armando, and enrolled at Moraine Park. He decided to pursue both the medical assistant and medical office support Technical Degrees.
“I came to Moraine Park Technical College because I could obtain an affordable education in a short amount of time,” Aurelio said. “Also, the hands-on learning and one-on-one interaction with the instructors was important to me.”
Life settled into a routine pace for Aurelio until his brother tragically died of a drug overdose. As a result, Aurelio ended up homeless and living in his car. He briefly relocated to Milwaukee to live with his sister but could barely afford the gas to get to and from school.
“It was a horrible time,” he said. “I wanted to give up, but I knew my children needed me to keep going.”
That’s when he connected with Karla Donohue, a counselor at Moraine Park’s Beaver Dam campus. Together, they were able to find immediate solutions to help him get to class.
“The College’s Foundation has emergency funding set aside to help students in situations just like Aurelio’s,” Karla said. “Once I met with him, we were able to work together to ease his life stresses so he could focus on his education and future.”
Moraine Park support services, like counseling, are always free to students.
“Connecting students to campus services helps to give students a sense of belonging, and they realize they aren’t alone,” Karla said. “I am impressed with Aurelio’s determination to overcome some major life barriers. He is a great example of strength.”
The determination that Aurelio demonstrates in his personal life is also brought into the classroom and on campus. For this reason, he was named as the 2018-19 Moraine Park District Student Ambassador for the Wisconsin Technical College System. This role requires the student to actively serve as a member of student government, advocate for Moraine Park and the Wisconsin Technical College System as a whole, assist with college activities and events, and represent the student body within the community. Aurelio’s tenure in this position will soon end, and his final assignment as the Moraine Park student ambassador is to serve as a student speaker at the 2019 commencement ceremony.
“Aurelio is a great student and a deserving recipient of the Student Ambassador award,” Karla said. “Even more important, Aurelio is a great person. By nature, he is kind, compassionate, and relatable, which makes him a perfect fit for his selected career path.”
Aurelio took advantage of career laddering opportunities at the College. He is a three-time Moraine Park graduate, and holds a medical billing specialist certificate, technical diplomas in medical assistance and medical office specialist, and is working towards his medical office management associate’s degree. His overall goal is to become a registered nurse (RN).
“I enjoy working in my community,” Aurelio said. “I have the God-given gift of speaking Spanish, and it makes me feel good knowing that I can help with translations if need be. Overall, I just like caring for people, regardless of who are they are, and I hope to continue to do so for years to come.”
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 6-8, at Moraine Park Technical College’s Fond du Lac campus.
The sessions for this year’s event are Animation Studio; Art & Soul; Auto Repair; Be Your Own Cake Boss; Beyond Band-Aids; Cooking Nutritious & Delicious!; Fix it, Tune it, Ride it!; Get Amp’ed Up About Electricity; Intro To American Sign Language (ASL); Just Breathe; Law and Order; Lego Sumo Robots; Pasta Chef; Salon Techniques; Using Social Media to Sell. These 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 interactive career sessions, a t-shirt, and a morning snack and lunch each day. The camp is held from 9 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. Bussing is available from Moraine Park’s Beaver Dam and West Bend campuses; seats are offered on a first-come, first served basis.
For session descriptions, availability and registration information, visit morainepark.edu/tkc. For questions, contact Amy Meyer- Bremer, Moraine Park recruiter, at (920) 924-3201 or ameyer17@morainepark.edu.
On Friday, February 22nd, 2019 on a beautiful late-winter day, 9 ABC Carpentry Apprentices, under the guidance of their instructor, Gary Roehrig, installed custom-made, heavy-duty cabinets into two of the houses in the Gas Utility Construction Training Neighborhood on the Beaver Dam campus. The carpenter apprentices built the cabinets in the woodshop on the West Bend campus, where they attend school, as part of their Advanced Cabinetmaking course. This course was developed and is being taught by Mr. Roehrig, a long-time instructor for the apprenticeship at Moraine Park.
The partnership between the apprenticeship program and the Gas Utility Construction program began unwittingly two years ago when, as part of their formal instruction, the carpenter apprentices built six 8×12 foot ‘sheds’ to gain practice designing and building small wooden structures. The original intent of this effort was to sell the sheds to local business or homeowners for use as brat-fry stands or for personal use. During the same time, planning was well underway to create the new gas program on the Beaver Dam campus, when the idea arose to use the 6 sheds—now called ‘houses’—to form a training neighborhood that gas program students could use for their own training.
The idea took hold, and even expanded to include two additional houses that were configured to be able to store tools and small equipment, thus making a training neighborhood of 8 houses. In late April, 2018, the 8 houses were transported from the West Bend woodshop and placed on concrete pads at the Beaver Dam campus, in time for the new program to start in June. Business and industry partners who contributed to the gas program capital campaign had plaques attached to the sides of the houses in recognition of their generosity.
As this phase of the partnership was reaching its’ end, a collaborative idea between Steve Horvath, Associate Dean of Trades, and Gary Roehrig came up, which was to have this year’s carpenter apprentices build the cabinets for the 2 extra houses. The intent in installing the heavy-duty cabinets is that in the future, the gas program students and instructor will be able to store supplies and small equipment out ‘in the field’, where it will be handy to access, rather than have to go back into the main lab for what is needed. For their part, the carpenter apprentices gained valuable skills in designing and building top-quality cabinets from scratch.
When the task was completed in the early afternoon of Feb. 22nd, Associate Dean Horvath thanked the carpentry apprentices and their instructor, telling them they had accomplished a task that is much appreciated and one which will have a long-lasting positive impact on another program in the college.
Moraine Park Technical College’s first Gas Utility Technician class celebrated their program completion on Thursday, March 14.
In 2017, the College announced their plans to construct an Energy Education Center (EEC) at the Beaver Dam campus, as an answer to industry demands for skilled gas utility technicians. Supporters for the project include Alliant Energy, KS Energy Services, Madison Gas and Electric, Michels Corporation, We Energies, and Wisconsin Public Service. The EEC opened in June 2018, and the first Gas Utility Technician group began their training.
“Students in this program receive top-notch instruction,” Bonnie Baerwald, Moraine Park president said. “They work through real gas utility scenarios in the Training Neighborhood, have access to the latest technology, and undergo thorough training to get them ready for the field.”
The 2019 class includes Alden Broome of Beaver Dam; Joseph Erdmann of Watertown; Samuel Gantner of Fond du Lac; Cody Gebhard of Brandon; Dylan Gilmore of Jackson; Connor Gray of Cottage Grove; Caleb Madrid of Watertown; Kaleb Mancheski of Deerfield; Ashton Mislivecek of Hillsboro; Zachary Muckerheide of West Bend; Ean Ries of Lomira; Jonah Rohde of Fond du Lac; Gavin Schultz of Waupun; Justin Schultz of Elkhart Lake; Jordan Snyder of Watertown. The graduates will receive their Gas Utility Technician technical diploma at Moraine Park’s annual commencement ceremony on May 18.
“I couldn’t be happier with the work that these students have put in over the past nine months,” Steve Logan, gas utility instructor at Moraine Park said. “In addition to learning the skills needed to be successful in a natural gas / underground construction career, they have learned an even greater lesson – that on the job and at home safety must always be their number one priority.”
Applications are now being accepted for the next group, set to begin in June 2019. The nine-month program is uniquely designed to train students and prepare them to fill industry needs for the following summer. Gas Utility Technicians are currently in high demand, with many positions ready to be filled. Graduates can expect to earn a median salary of $56,675.
Individuals interested in the Gas Utility Technician program can reach out to Sherry Hackbarth, an academic advisor at Moraine Park, at (920) 887-4425 or shackbarth@morainepark.edu.
For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.
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