Last year, the Phi Theta Kappa (Beta Mu Kappa chapter) students were able to ensure warm hands for 55 area children during the cold Wisconsin winter via our Mitten Tree Drive.  We’re doing it again on all three campuses and need YOUR help to decorate our trees and spread some love!  Let’s do even better this year! The donated mittens we collect will be delivered to the Boys & Girls Club of Fond du Lac, Boys & Girls Club of Washington County and the Boys & Girls Club of the Tri County Area at the end of the drive. Donations are being accepted November 1 – 22.

Mitten trees will be located outside the libraries on each of our campuses. Whether you donate one pair or many, each will touch a heart!

In addition to Phi Theta Kappa, Moraine Park has a NEW Academic Honor Society. Students who maintain a 3.5 GPA or above after obtaining at least 12 college credits towards an associate degree are invited to join the honor society. Check out our web page for more information on PTK and AHS.

Written by Linda Huckaby

On April 23, MPTC President Bonnie Baerwald and Student Community Impact Coordinator Anne Lemke, were very excited to receive the Partner In Excellence Award from the Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area

Center Director Mindy Collado said, “Thank you so much for attending our Great Futures Celebration and for all of your hard work with the Dream Big Initiative!”

Teen Futures Coordinator Carrie Govek said, “We are so delighted with the opportunities Dream Big has offered the teens in our Career Launch program and we look forward to continuing this partnership.”

Club CEO Jason Presto said, “Dream Big is so amazing! We are very thankful for the way MPTC is introducing our members to opportunities they may be interested in or may have never even known was an option for them. This school year they learned about careers in Medical Assistant, Criminal Justice, Health and Wellness, Welding, and Automotive!

On April 10, 2019 Tri-County Boys and Girls Club kids in grades 5-11 were excited to meet and learn with Moraine Park Medical Assistant student Merinda Chamberlin!

Experiential Learning Coordinator Anne Lemke said, “Our MA student Merinda did a great job with the kids! She taught them about healthcare careers at MPTC and shared her own Nursing Assistant and Medical Assistant journey. They had their pulse ox checked and learned what all the breathing oxygen numbers meant and played a fun game of Medical Assistant Word Search. A big thank you to the Moraine Park Medical Assistant students for providing kids with a chance to learn about medical careers and the many jobs in healthcare available all around us!”

The Dream Big project started last year with Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac teens learning more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC.  This year, Dream Big is expanding throughout the MPTC district to include Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area (Berlin, Green Lake County) and Boys and Girls Club of Washington County (West Bend).  This is a great community partnership opportunity for Moraine Park students to showcase their careers and practice service learning  and for Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about career choices!

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

On March 28, Fond du Lac and Tri- County Boys and Girls Club teens in grades 5-11 were excited to meet and learn with Moraine Park Criminal Justice students!

Tri-County Boys and Girls Club Teen Futures Coordinator Carrie Govek said, “Our teens were given this great opportunity to participate in an interactive presentation done by the Criminal Justice students and their instructors at Moraine Park. They learned about criminal justice careers and professionalism.  They even got to try handcuffs, fingerprinting, and searching for contraband in a jail cell! What a fun learning experience for all those who participated!  A big thank you to the Moraine Park Criminal Justice students and their Instructors Joan Barfield and Jeff Gruss for providing our teens with a chance to learn about this important career.”

The Dream Big project started last year with Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac teens learning more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC.  This year, Dream Big is expanding throughout the MPTC district to include Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area (Berlin, Green Lake County) and Boys and Girls Club of Washington County (West Bend).  This is a great community partnership opportunity for Moraine Park students to showcase their careers and practice service learning  and for Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about career choices!

On Tuesday, December 18, Danielle Barron and Debbie Applebee, students from the MPTC Health and Wellness Program,  visited teens in grades 5-12 at the Tri-County Boys and Girls Club in Berlin, for a fun two hour interactive Dream Big event.

Tri-County Boys and Girls Club Teen Futures Coordinator, Carrie Govek said, “This was a wonderful experience for our teens!  Besides finding out more on health and wellness careers, they learned about healthy drinks and how much sugar is in many of the drinks they love, like sports drinks and soda. They even got to have a fun Tic Tac Toe relay race! Our Club is really stressing healthy lifestyles with exercise and healthy eating, so this was a perfect learning opportunity! After the teen event was finished, the elementary kids even got to sample the delicious fruit infused water the students brought to share. Thank you MPTC!”   Danielle and Debbie both told the teens about personal, family and friends health related journeys that inspired them to pursue a career in health and wellness and how the associate degree at MPTC is the perfect fit, where they are learning how to coach and teach healthy lifestyles and earning certifications all along the way to graduate with a career that has many job opportunities!

The Dream Big project started last year with Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac teens learning more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC.  This year, Dream Big is expanding throughout the MPTC district to include Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area (Berlin, Green Lake County) and Boys and Girls Club of Washington County (West Bend).  This is a great community partnership opportunity for Moraine Park students to showcase their careers and practice service learning  and for Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about career choices!

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

On Wednesday, December 5, MPTC Welding Instructor Aide Dan Eldridge, Welding Bootcamp Student Amy Mann, and EWD Business Rep Beau Gellings, visited teens in grades 5-12 and staff from the Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area for a fun two hour interactive Dream Big event.

“MPTC visited our Club to talk about different educational options and career opportunities  in welding and allowed us to get hands on experience with the virtual welding equipment! 15 teen Club members tried it out and asked lots of questions.  Members earned scores for their welding performance based on 5 different measurements that make a good weld. There was some serious competition!  It was a fun and educational evening that may have lit some sparks for our kids!  Thank you MPTC!” – Carrie Govek, Tri-County BGC Teen Futures Coordinator 

“I was wondering if the kids would understand what a great opportunity it would be to get introduced to a welding career by having fun on the virtual welder, just like a computer game!  It’s very exciting for me to give back after all I have received through MPTC and the boot camp!” – Amy Mann, Moraine Park welding intern

 “It was really great tonight for me to see our student become the teacher.  I saw her giving the kids the exact same instructions we gave her when she was a beginning welder just 3 months ago. We are so proud of her!” – Dan Eldridge, welding instructor aide

Dan also told us that Amy just got offered at job at MEC, where she was serving her internship. 

The Dream Big project started last year with Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac teens learning more about the over 100 careers available through MPTC.  This year, Dream Big is expanding throughout the MPTC district to include Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area (Berlin, Green Lake County) and Boys and Girls Club of Washington County (West Bend).  This is a great community partnership opportunity for Moraine Park students to showcase their careers and practice service learning  and for Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about career choices!

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

On April 24, 2018, Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club kids in grades 5-11 were excited to meet and learn with Moraine Park Corrections students!

Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club Director of Teen Services Dillon Wiese said, “Our teens were given the fun opportunity to participate in a presentation done by the Criminal Justice students from Moraine Park. They learned about careers in the police department, sheriff’s department, prisons and even about becoming a detective!  The Criminal Justice students brought “Bob”, handcuffs, and fingerprinting activities for Club teens to try out. What a great experience for all those who participated!  A big thank you to the Moraine Park Criminal Justice students and their Instructor Joan Barfield for providing our teens with a chance to learn about this important career.”

The idea for “Dream Big and Have Fun” began with the Moraine Park Technical College District Student Government President/IT Club Vice President, Phil Conley.  Phil was passionate about helping kids after volunteering with the IT Club internet safety project at Boys and Girls Club last year.  He had an awesome brainstorm to reach out to all the Moraine Park Clubs through Student Senate and make a plan for each one to visit the Boys & Girls Club to share some learning and fun from their programs/careers.  Clubs will be featured all throughout the months of March and April.  This is a great opportunity for Moraine Park students to earn service learning hours and for Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club members to get excited about future career choices!

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

MPTC Welding Boot Camp student Nick Martinez helps Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club members try out the virtual welder

On April 12, 2018, Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club kids in grades 5-11 were excited to meet and learn with Moraine Park Welding Aide Dan Eldridge and Welding Boot Camp student Nick Martinez!

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On April 11, 2018, Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club kids in grades 5-11 were excited to meet and learn with Moraine Park Paramedic students!

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