This year, over 800 Moraine Park Technical College students completed their college education and earned their Associate of Applied Science degree or Technical diploma. This semester introduced new challenges and opportunities for both students and staff as they adapted many changes, including a virtual learning environment and the cancelation of the 2020 commencement ceremony.

Recently, the College made accommodations for small, socially distant classes to temporarily resume and complete face-to-face labs and coursework. The hard work and patience by staff and students resulted in the ability for all spring semester classes, including contract training, to be completed.

“Our students’ ability to persevere and continue to work toward their college degree during such uncertain times is something that they should all be very proud of,” Baerwald said. “We are grateful for their tenacity and patience, and we are proud that they have stayed committed to their educational goals and the College. I have no doubts that our communities will be greatly influenced by their skills.”

Bonnie Baerwald, Moraine Park president, shared a personal message with the graduates in May that acknowledged their accomplishments, congratulated them on their graduation, and detailed how the College plans to help them celebrate from a distance. Additionally, she invited them to participate in the 2021 commencement ceremony.

For more information, visit morainepark.edu.

Moraine Park Technical College has developed a plan for a safe reopening of its facilities. In a communication to employees and students earlier this month, the College released its plan to reopen the College with a slow and phased-in approach. The plan, in its entirety, is dependent on directives from state and national authorities and the overall safety of the local community.

“Developing a fluid and phased reopening plan is necessary to ensuring overall safety,” Bonnie Baerwald, Moraine Park President, said. “This plan is a great foundation for a secure business reopening, and we are all looking forward to reuniting on our campuses again soon.”

The plan, which includes five phases, is expected to span the entire summer and into mid-fall. Phase one and two are being currently being implemented and focus on providing access to students and faculty needing to complete spring semester face-to-face courses. Thanks to the extensive planning by faculty and staff, all classes, including program and contract training, have made accommodations to complete the spring semester. The campus facilities will remain closed. However, Student Services will be open and accessible by appointment, and the schedule will be available on morainepark.edu. The bookstore reopened by appointment only starting on June 1. To make an appointment with the bookstore, visit morainepark.edu/bookstore.

Phase three is targeted for July and will allow for no more than 50 percent of Moraine Park employees to be on campus. The College will remain closed to the general public, and only individuals with college-related business will be allowed on any of the campuses. Services such as dining and library, and offerings on campuses will remain limited to mitigate gathering; social distancing accommodations will be made wherever possible; personal protective equipment will still be available and is strongly encouraged. Student Services and the Bookstore will remain accessible by appointment.

Phase four, which is targeted for August, will expand in-person operations. The College is hoping to resume to an operational state the week of Aug. 17. However, a variety of accommodations are being considered for both students and employees. Fall classes and programming will resume in the delivery format that makes the most sense. This information will be communicated closer to the start of the fall semester. Safety will remain a top priority, sanitation efforts will remain increased, social distancing should continue, and campus events and activities will be allowed but must adhere to local and state guidelines. Bookstore face-to-face operations will resume with restrictions.

Phase five, the planned final phase targeted for October, will reopen all of Moraine Park’s campuses to the public for events, rentals, community programming, on-site walking, and use of our services such as the library.

For additional details (and possible updates) to the phased-in plan, please visit moranepark.edu/coronavirus.

Due to the still-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, Moraine Park Technical College has decided to postpone its 2020 commencement ceremony, originally scheduled for Saturday, May 16.

While the situation is still fluid, the College is moving forward with a new commencement date of Saturday, June 27, at 10 a.m. The College is also hoping to utilize a new location for this year’s ceremony, the Beaver Dam High School Field House, 500 Gould St., Beaver Dam.

Regalia (caps, gowns and tassels) will be available for purchase through the College bookstore online. More information, including purchase dates, will be available on the student portal in the coming weeks.

The College has invited Beaver Dam Mayor Becky Glewen and Moraine Park graduate Barbara Turner to participate as speakers at the ceremony. Commencement is expected to last approximately one and a half hours. 

College officials continue to monitor state and national regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. If social distancing guidelines are still in place, further extended or enhanced, the commencement ceremony would then be canceled. If cancellation occurs, graduating students will be offered the opportunity to participate in the 2021 commencement ceremony and celebrations.

“We recognize how significant the commencement ceremony is to our graduates,” Bonnie Baerwald, president at Moraine Park Technical College, said. “Commencement is also an opportunity for families, friends, and Moraine Park employees to surround our graduates with support and offer congratulations for this momentous achievement. For these reasons, we are hopeful that by postponing the date, it will allow all of us to celebrate together.”

For Moraine Park’s COVID-19 updates, visit morainepark.edu/coronavirus.

As we see so often during difficult times, people always find ways to keep a light shining by helping others.

Such is the case at Moraine Park Technical College. With the coronavirus continuing its grip on local communities, our nation and the world, the College is doing what they can to help.

Nearly 37,000 healthcare and safety-related supplies, including N-95 masks; disposable gloves and gowns; surgical gowns, hats and shoe covers; face shields and more, were collected from each of the College’s campuses – Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac and West Bend – and have been donated to local healthcare facilities in those communities including Marshfield Medical Center (formerly Beaver Dam Community Hospital), Froedtert and SSM/St. Agnes.

The healthcare supplies came from several of the College’s more than 60-plus programs, including:  Associate Degree Nursing, Nursing Assistant, Respiratory Therapy, Surgical Technologist, EMS and Cosmetology.

The College is also loaning respirators SSM/St. Agnes according to Barb Jascor, Moraine Park’s dean of health and human services.

“In addition to the need for healthcare and safety supplies, we were also seeing an ever-increasing need for ventilators,” said Jascor. “We wanted to do what we could to help and it made sense to loan our ventilators in advance, as a precautionary measure, should the local need for ventilators surpass current capacity of our community health care partners.”

For COVID-19 updates at Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu/coronavirus.

Engaging with our communities is a Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) priority. That was evidenced as the College honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the College’s inaugural MLK Week of Service Literacy Project.

Throughout the week of January 20-24, more than 70 Moraine Park employees spread the joy of reading to elementary school students. Some read culturally responsive books to classrooms and individual students at three elementary schools — Chegwin in Fond du Lac, Green Tree in West Bend and Jefferson in Beaver Dam. Others personalized MPTC bookmarks to distribute to the schools’ nearly 1,000 students. Additionally, each school received more than 150 culturally responsive books for their libraries, thanks to donations from MPTC and Kiwanis of Fabulous FDL. What a great week it was!

morainepark.edu

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.

Are you looking to jump-start your education and career?

If so, Moraine Park has a great opportunity for you!

The Moraine Park Foundation has received an annual scholarship contribution of $700 from their long-time community friend, the Beaver Dam Noon Kiwanis.

“We are so grateful for the continued commitment from the Beaver Dam Noon Kiwanis,” Dana Bourland, director of college advancement at Moraine Park said. “Their loyal and generous contributions benefit many students and have helped make educational dreams become a reality.”

The partnership between the Foundation and Kiwanis dates back more than a decade, providing financial support to students who need it most.

“We understand that a college education can help influence a family-sustaining career and break the cycle of poverty,” Lisa Karst of Beaver Dam Noon Kiwanis said. “For this reason, the Beaver Dam Noon Kiwanis is committed to providing scholarship support to Moraine Park students.”

The Beaver Dam Noon Kiwanis scholarship is offered to students who are enrolled full-time, attend at the Beaver Dam campus and have a minimum GPA of 2.75.

For more information on the Moraine Park Foundation, visit morainepark.edu/foundation.

Moraine Park Technical College named nearly 1,100 students to the Dean’s List for the spring 2019 semester. To qualify for the Dean’s List distinction, students must earn a minimum semester grade point average of 3.5, be enrolled in at least six credits of undergraduate-level courses, be in good academic standing and cannot have a failing or incomplete grade for the semester.

Click here to view the list.