Service-Learning Celebration

On Thursday, May 1, I attended our Service-Learning Celebration Breakfast on the Fond du Lac campus.  This has become an annual event to learn about the community service-learning projects our students, or in some cases, entire classes, participated in.  Students from Accounting, Building Trades Construction Worker, Business and Event Planning, Corrections, Introduction to Sociology and Introduction to Ethics presented their projects.  I am so proud of all of these students and the leadership from their instructors to engage them in such wonderful hands-on experience and learning about the community project.  All of the students spoke about what a great opportunity this was to get involved and engaged. 

 
I had the chance to talk with Building Trades Construction Worker students Tim Milligan, Nate Stockhausen, Mike Schmid, Dillon Pufahl, Luke Breuer and their instructor Don Enders, about their Habitat for Humanity of Washington and Dodge Counties home building project in West Bend.  When I asked the students if everything with the project had gone as planned, their response was, “No. We learned to adapt to change.”  When they shared how rewarding it was to add their names to the footings of the home, I could see their pride knowing this would be a project that would “last a lifetime.” 

The Business and Marketing Events class along with Instructor Jeff Stueber are planning a Pink Pumpkin event on the Fond du Lac campus, Saturday, Oct. 18.  As this team noted during their project presentation, “it is about making a positive impact in our communities.”

I encourage you to learn more about MPTC’s Service-Learning classes and projects and see how you might be able to get involved.  With so many opportunities, I’m sure you will find something you are passionate about that will engage you to help others!

Introducing Community Connections Newsletter

I am pleased to announce that Moraine Park has released the first edition of Community Connections, a MorainePark Technical College Newsletter.

The biannual newsletter is intended to keep business leaders and community members informed of the many happenings at the College. In our first issue you will find information about projects Moraine Park faculty and staff have been working on including the grand opening of our new Jackson Regional Center, lab updates and several new initiatives implemented by departments within the College. For questions or feedback on the newsletter, please contact jurben@morainepark.edu.

Moraine Park celebrates Career and Technical Education

During the month of February, Career and Technical Education (CTE) is celebrated throughout the state and nation. Even though February is the shortest month of the year, Moraine Park is incorporating many activities over the next few weeks to recognize the importance of CTE.

Moraine Park kicked off CTE month by hosting Discover Moraine Park on each campus. This annual event is for anyone wanting to get a jump start on the admissions process and learn more about the different programs at Moraine Park. We are hosting many events for the public to attend throughout the month. For event details, visit morainepark.edu and check out the Events Calendar.

On February 19, I will join some of our students at the State Capitol to demonstrate the impact technical education has on our State. This Celebration of Student Engagement event is something Wisconsin’s 16 Technical Colleges participate in annually and I’m looking forward to getting involved again this year.

CTE month will wrap up with the Moraine Park Association of Career and Technical Education (MPACTE) annual awards banquet on February 21. I’m excited to help MPACTE recognize individuals for their dedication to and excellence in career and technical education.

Why do you think Career and Technical Education is important? Please share any comments below as I always enjoying hearing from you! Also, check out this video on exploring your options in the many emerging and in-demand career fields!

Taking the adversity out of diversity

In collaboration with the Higher Education Diversity Initiative Team (HEDIT), Moraine Park recently hosted an important workshop led by national speaker, Dr. Maura Cullen. Fond du Lac County’s four institutions of higher education (Moraine Park, Marian University, Ripon College, and UW-Fond du Lac) invited students, staff and faculty members to attend the annual event.

The theme of this year’s project was “Bridging the Gap: Skills to Increase Your Diversity Competence.” It was an honor having Dr. Cullen on campus to get participants laughing and thinking about diversity and inclusion. Dr. Cullen took the ‘adversity out of diversity’ by covering skills that are necessary for the 21^st century workplace. I think those who attended left with a new outlook on how to build bridges between people by understanding cultural differences.

HEDIT organizes an event each year that leads, inspires, educates and challenges Fond du Lac County students and our community to celebrate diversity. This workshop was HEDIT’s fourth annual event. Did you attend the diversity event with Dr. Cullen? What were some of the skills you left the workshop with that you didn’t know before? Please share – I’m already looking forward to finding out what the HEDIT team has in store for us next year.