Students help build a Habitat home in West Bend

On September 9, I attended a very special groundbreaking for a new Habitat for Humanity home being built in West Bend. The groundbreaking was not only a wonderful celebration for the families getting a new home but it was also the start to an extraordinary learning experience for Moraine Park students in the Building Trades Construction Worker and Electricity programs.

 

Students will work alongside Habitat crews throughout the 2013-14 school year to help build the duplex for the families. They will be framing, roofing and wiring the house in preparation for the families to move in next year. Since the groundbreaking I have visited the site and the crews are already making a great deal of progress. In just two short weeks, they are already beginning to lay the foundation for the home.



Photo taken at the Habitat groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, Sept. 24.

  

Just two weeks later students and Habitat crew are already making progress.

 

I can’t express enough how proud I am of the students and instructors involved in this project.  This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn their trades but more importantly they are also learning what it means to truly help people in need. This is exactly what Moraine Park is trying to achieve through our Service-Learning projects.  Thank you to the students and staff for your dedication to this project!  Make sure to stay tuned into my blog for more updates and photos throughout this project.

New labs to greet students for fall

Even though most students are off this summer, big changes are happening for the Fond du Lac and West Bend campuses. Staff and faculty have been working hard to move two programs, Building Trades Construction Worker and Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology (HVAC/R) to the West Bend campus and set up for the new paramedic lab in Fond du Lac.

Bringing the two programs to join the Electricity program at West Bend will allow students in the three programs to work together as if they were on an actual jobsite. In addition to the new labs, construction crews have been working all summer to complete the new practice home that will be used as a lab for all three programs now available in West Bend. The new practice home will be completed in October.

In the new West Bend electricity lab each student get their own station to practice wiring techniques.

I am very excited about the opportunities these new additions will bring for our students. The new practice home will give students the chance to practice on-the-job skills with the guidance of their instructors.

Crews have been working hard all summer to complete the new practice home set to open this October. The new practice home will give students from all three programs hands on experience in their specific areas and teach them to work together on a jobsite.

If you’re wondering what will become of some of vacated program space at the Fond du Lac campus -- it will be converted to a state-of-the-art paramedic lab. Moraine Park will be the first school in the Fox Valley to have an indoor paramedic’s lab equipped with an ambulance. This will give paramedic students the rare opportunity to practice the high-stress tasks they must perform on a daily basis.

If you or anyone you know is interested in these programs, there are still openings available for fall. Classes begin Monday, August 26, I encourage you to come in and get signed up as soon as possible!

It is safe to say that there is never a dull moment here—even in the summer. Thank you again for tuning into my blog. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I would love to hear from you!