Moraine Park Technical College hosted their third annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Literacy Week Project, donating more than 500 culturally responsive books to three local elementary schools. 

In 2019, the College began exploring opportunities to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and developed strong partnerships with three area schools; Jefferson Elementary in Beaver Dam, Chegwin Elementary in Fond du Lac, and Green Tree Elementary in West Bend.

Each year, Moraine Park has donated culturally responsive books to the schools’ libraries, and employees of the College have spent time in the classroom or virtually reading books to the students.

“Engaging with our communities is a strategic priority for the College,” Bonnie Baerwald, Moraine Park president, said. “We value the partnerships cultivated with these three district elementary schools and look forward to working with them to celebrate the important work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for years to come.”

Eat a grape and make a wish! Have a competition of nativities. Wear yellow pants to ensure good finances in the coming year! These are just a few of the cultural traditions Moraine Park’s English Language students shared during our end of the semester holiday-themed classes. We kicked off the holiday conversation with a trip to Regner Park’s “Enchantment in the Park” lights display where the students learned about the United States’ holiday traditions including Christmas lights, Santa Claus, carolers and hot cocoa. Continue reading

This week, students in our English Language Learner (ELL) class enjoyed coupling language learning with team-building skills through “The Marshmallow Challenge.”  Modified from an activity discussed in Mark Wujec’s TED talk, the students were tasked with working together in teams to build the tallest structure in a limited amount of time, from a limited set of materials.

They did a wonderful job creating some very unique free-standing structures! Continue reading