What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving! As we begin to celebrate the holiday season and you gather with family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday I hope you take the time to reflect on what you are thankful for. Reflecting on things I am thankful for is a tradition I have celebrated with my family regardless of which home I may be enjoying the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries and we can’t forget the pumpkin pie with a spoonful, or two of real whip cream.  This Thanksgiving I am thankful for continued good health and the support from family and friends.  I’m blessed to have my mother who is 93 years old and still with us. Although she is no longer preparing the traditional Thanksgiving meal, those traditions have been passed on to her children. I hope you all enjoy the break from classes to celebrate the holiday with friends and family.  Wishing you all a safe and very special Thanksgiving.

 

What are you most thankful for this year? Please share below!

Moraine Park celebrates International Education Week!

Students and staff were exposed to a variety of cultural experiences this week and last week in celebration of International Education Week! Moraine Park is participating in the nationwide effort to celebrate the benefits of international education.  This year the activities at our College centered around two trips, one to Jamaica and one to Morocco, being offered this spring through Moraine Park’s International Education program.  

Last week students and staff got to taste Jamaican cuisine and listen to Jamaican music at the Taste of Jamaica events held at all three campuses. Students from the Multicultural Club were also available to share information about the upcoming trip to study abroad trip to Jamaica. During the trip students will be participating in service learning in healthcare, education, sustainable construction and renewable energy aiming to provide hands-on learning. Students will also be collecting school supplies to take with them to support the Blue Mountain Project in rural Jamaica. Make sure to drop any extra supplies you have in the boxes at the Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac campuses!

 

 

There was also a Moroccan cooking demonstration earlier this week where students, staff and community members got to sample Moroccan cuisine and learn more about the study abroad trip to Morocco this spring. If you or anyone you know is interested in the trip make sure to visit morainepark.edu/morocco or contact Tom Endejan at tendjan@morainepark.edu.

 

In addition to the activities around campus, our International Education program recently ran a Travel Photo Contest! Make sure to check out the winning photos on International Education’s Facebook Page.

I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the festivities! Thank you again for tuning into my blog. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below.

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.

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.

Welcome back!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their semester! It is wonderful to see so many new and returning students excited to kick off a new semester. Throughout the week there were many events to celebrate the start of Fall Semester including Welcome Back lunches featuring Mission IMPROVable. Students, staff and faculty shared many laughs as this improv team performed their comedic routine and even brought in audience members into the performance. I hope you were able to enjoy these events and take advantage of the opportunity to meet and socialize with new friends, old friends, and fellow classmates. Below are some of my favorite photos from the event!

 

 

Another week-one highlight for me was serving as a semester greeter. This is still one of my favorite new semester duties. Throughout the week, I was stationed at a table to help students who were looking for a new class or had general questions about the College. I always love the opportunity to meet new students and catch up with returning students. If you ever see me in the hall, please introduce yourself and say hi. I hope this is a wonderful semester for all of our students. We are so happy you chose to attend or return to Moraine Park!



Summer Event Recap

The month of August has been filled with many exciting events to get us all back in the swing of things before the start of the fall semester.

The first thing I want to share with you are a few highlights from Tech Knowledge College (TKC). This annual summer workshop gives students entering sixth through eighth grade the opportunity to explore career options offered at Moraine Park. This year we had nearly 200 students participate in 20 different sessions. The sessions ranged from culinary creations to welding projects. Below are just a few of my favorite photos from the event!

In the intro to party planning class, students hosted Mexican and Italian-themed parties with food and decoration to match. They even sported festive mustaches for the occasion.

 

Welding students learned the art of welding from Moraine Park Instructor Larry Clark. During the three-day event students worked to weld pieces of metal together to create a lawn sculpture.

Another one of my favorite August events is Summer Welcome Day because it means students are coming back soon! This year’s event featured a new twist with an Amazing Race theme. To help new and returning students learn more about the College we hosted our very first Amazing Moraine Park Race.

Like the popular TV show, The Amazing Race, students had to work together with their teams using clues to find locations and complete challenges around their campus. The challenges helped students meet new people while they learned about the College and resources available to them once school starts.

 

 

Although the race activities were very exciting, my favorite part of the event was getting the chance to walk around each table to meet new students. Thank you to all the students who participated in the event! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I look forward to seeing you all in a few short weeks!

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!