MPTC faculty participate in service learning

Faculty at MPTC completed a day of service for the Clean Boats, Clean Waters Project at Lakeside Park.   Serving our community by learning about invasive water species, surveying boaters on the lake, and pulling out Japanese Knotwood plants were an active part of the morning .  Reflection and discussion of service learning integration into coursework curriculum rounded out a beautiful summer day.

FREE Income Tax Returns!

Yet again, Moraine Park students are helping out the community through service-learning!

Moraine Park Technical College accounting program students are providing free income tax assistance. This is a great service-learning project that allows students to take what they learn from their accounting class and apply it to situations in their community.

Income must be $51,000 or less

Items you need to bring to have your tax returns prepared

·         Proof of identification (picture id)

·         Social Security Cards for you, your spouse and dependents and/or a Social Security Number verification letter issued by the Social Security Administration

·         Birth dates for you, your spouse and dependents on the tax return

·         Current year’s tax package if you received one

·         Wage and earning statement(s) Form W-2, W-2G, 1099-R, from all employers

·         Interest and dividend statements from banks (Forms 1099)

·         A copy of last year’s federal and state returns if available

·         Bank routing numbers and account numbers for Direct Deposit

·         Total paid for daycare provider and the daycare provider's tax identifying number (the provider's Social Security Number or the provider's business Employer Identification Number)

·         To file taxes electronically on a married-filing-joint tax return, both spouses must be present to sign the required forms.

·         If claiming the Homestead Credit for the State of Wisconsin, an original renter’s certificate signed by the landlord.

Dates for FREE income tax returns:

On the Fond du Lac campus

Room O-213/214

Thursday, February 20 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, February 27 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, March 6 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, March 13 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, March 27 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, April 3 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, April 10 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, April 3 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

Thursday, April 10 from 2:00 p.m.– 5:00p.m.

It’s tax time and we are ready for YOU!

Students Helping Boys and Girls Club!

Learn how MPTC students are dramatically impacting their community through service-learning! Don't forget to watch the video!

Professor Marla Pearce asked her team building and problem solving class to find a problem in the community and solve it. This team went above and beyond helping the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson.

The group named their team "scope" because they looked into a problem and how to solve it. The "problem" they decided to tackle was the lack of funds and supplies at The Boys and Girls Club of Jackson. Sue Bliese is the director of The Boys and Girls Club of Jackson and was very helpful in working with them by giving the group information. Sue informed the students on what they needed in terms of supplies. The group took the information they were told and brainstormed on how they could help.

The first thing they decided to do to help solve this problem was have a donation drive. The group had a three week drive that was from October 1st- October 18th. To raise awareness of our drive they created and printed out flyers that each group member distributed throughout their neighborhoods and towns. The drop-off locations for any supplies that people wanted to donate were at Jimmy's Restaurant, Walgreens and Associated Bank all located in Jackson.

From the donation drive they received many donations from pencils to furniture and recreational activities. Individually they went out into the community to gather up anything they could. The group managed to get a brand new flat screen TV, couches and chairs, $60 in giftcards, cleaning supplies, snacks, two Foosball tables, an air hockey table and about six-seven big buckets full of miscellaneous toys and other items.

On October 18^th the group all met together at the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson and brought all of the donations there.

Click on the video to see the reactions from the children when the MPTC students revealed the donations they collected!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWU0gKx4BSQ#

Team Scope did a great job solving a problem in the community!

Finding Ways to Make Students More Successful!

Look what's happening at MPTC!

The Team building and Problem solving class students were assigned to solve a problem for a business or someone that needed a problem solved. One team decided to help Sandra Huenink (Dean of Basic Education) with the Student Success Center.

The team wanted to improve the attendance and find ways to keep enrolled students continue to use MPTC services for their educational successes. The group created surveys where they received feedback from the students. They have come up with new ideas for the student success center, for example opening lab just for Math. The students hope that their feedback helps the student success center and Sandra succeed to its highest potential.

Photo: Tiffany Konen, Shannon Roth, Sandra Huenink, Kelsey Kunsman, Liz Haushalter.

HEDIT Event!

Look what students completed for service-learning!

All four Fond du Lac County higher education colleges completed a combined service-learning project to showcase the topic of inter- faith that was highlighted at this year’s HEDIT (Higher Education Diversity Initiative Team) Conference. 

Brenda Schaefer’s ethics course pictured here was involved in the marketing and publicizing of, “A Night of Many Voices” that was held on UW-Fond du Lac Campus the evening of November 21st.

The event was well attended with over 100 participants that celebrated many different religions, music, and multi-cultural food! Special thanks to the HEDIT group who sponsored this event!

International Education Week 2013

Julie Lotto, advisor for the Fond du Lac chapter of the MPTC Multicultural Club, shares ways to support the Blue Mountain Project in Jamaica.

Celebrate International Education Week with us! Today, students enjoyed our Taste of Jamaica event on the Fond du Lac Campus. The Multicultural Club, Diversity Relations, and International Education hosted this event, which included tasty Jamaican treats and music.

We have two more dates planned for Taste of Jamaica: Wednesday, November 13, on the West Bend Campus, and Thursday, November 14, on the Beaver Dam Campus. Each event will take place 11:30-12:30 in the Commons Area.

Additional events planned for International Education Week include:

1) Vote in the Travel Photo Contest on Facebook! View the entire album on our Facebook page, and "like" your favorite pictures. Our students shared pictures from around the world!

2) Support study abroad students at a bake sale at the Habitat for Humanity of Fond du Lac County Affiliate & ReStore on Saturday, 11/16, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Students will hold a 50/50 raffle. Do you also need new furniture, a lawnmower, or other items for your household? On 11/16, 10% of merchandise sales at the Habitat ReStore will be donated to our students, too!

3) Check out our Moroccan Cooking Demonstration at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, 11/18, on the FDL Campus (A-111). Learn how YOU can spend Spring Break in Morocco!

Diversity Relations Coordinator William Green and MPTC Student Alessio Ziel serve authentic and delicious Jamaican food at Taste of Jamaica!

MPTC Student Liz Rohde will complete service-learning projects in health clinics with the Blue Mountain Project in Jamaica this January.

Dean Caron Daugherty talks about our new study abroad program in MOROCCO! The program, which runs March 12-23, 2014, is still accepting applicants. Learn more about this program at an upcoming Moroccan cooking demonstration on 11/18 or the information session on 11/19: http://bit.ly/16WzYC7.

 

Philanthropy Award Event!

Look how much fun we are having at MPTC!

 

Students in Moraine Park Technical College's Business Meeting & Event Planning class are assisting the Columbus Area Endowment Board with their 2013 Philanthropy Award Event!  The event was held at Kestrel Ridge in Columbus on Saturday evening, November 3rd.  The event is honoring local philanthropist Alice Schmidt.  The students worked on a slideshow presentation, invitations, post cards, programs, name tags, banners, and assorted details that helped  make the event a success!

The students in the class are Audra Dates, Chelsea Lange, Anna (Lebakken) Gerndt, April Slack, Priscilla Trevino, and Alicia Weissenburger.  The class is taught by Pam Zander of Columbus.

Corrections Club Making a Difference!

Guess what our Corrections Club was up to last week! Criminal Justice/Corrections Club students gave their time and energy to Service-Learning and engaged in a project with Habitat for Humanity in Washington/Dodge County.

Corrections Club President, Jessica Parsons, has passion, enthusiasm and a sincere desire to become actively involved in the community through Service-Learning projects and has passed this passion on to other club members to become engaged in the process.

It began at a meeting when Jessica proposed the club focus should be on giving back to the community.  Students in the program/club identified poverty, homelessness, hunger, MH and AODA issues as some of the contributing factors affecting individuals and correlation among/within the CJ system.  In an effort to increase awareness and empathy among club members, it was decided the club would be part of the solution and get involved!

Club members and advisor met at a Habitat home in Washington County and assisted with mudding drywall, taping windows/doors to prep for painting, texture walls using a hopper and another student would complete the knock down of the texture. Two other students assisted with the breakdown of scaffolding at the other Habitat site (MPTC students in another program are currently building a duplex in Washington Co).

Photo: Joseph Clark, Peter Giove, Matthew Henning, Steve Smith, Jessica Parsons and Joan Barfield (Connections Science Instructor at MPTC).

Near lunchtime, the soon to be owner of the house arrived and the students had the opportunity to meet her and learn that she would be moving in with her four children. Currently, they are living in a homeless shelter.

Interestingly, many of the club members who helped with the house, were students in one or more of Brenda Schaefer’s classes and had the opportunity to engage in service-learning projects previously.

This is proof that service-learning is so meaningful to our students that they would love to help out again. Providing "service" and "learning" can create an impact in the lives of all members of a community.

Northeast Wisconsin Regional Network Gathering!

This last week we had the honor of hosting the Northeast Wisconsin Regional Network Gathering! We had a great opportunity to share and learn from one another!
 
We talked about how student learning is strongest when the service and work students do in the community is intentionally connected to civic development outcomes in the community. The Service Learning Program brings the campus and community together in partnership to share resources, meet real community needs, and educate students about their program. This gives students a chance to take what they learn from class and apply it in their community!

 

 

 

If you would like more information, please contact our service-learning VISTA Natalie Schmitz at 920-924-3337 or nschmitz2@morainepark.edu.

 

Community Connections Fair!

Hope you had a chance to stop by all three of our campuses last week for the Community Connections Fairs! We had a great time learning about our community and making connections about service learning opportunities!

Community Connections Fair is a district-wide Community Resource/ Service-Learning Fair for all three campuses (Fond du Lac, Beaver Dam, West Bend). All held from September 10th-12th at different MPTC campus each day.

For those who attended the event received information about valuable community resources, service learning opportunities and more information about MPTC services.

If you were unable to attend or would like more information about service learning opportunities, please contact our service-learning VISTA Natalie Schmitz at 920-924-3337 or nschmitz2@morainepark.edu.

Service Learning Student Recognition and VISTA grant opportunity

Thursday, May 2, Moraine Park celebrated and showcased student service projects from the semester. To make it even better, the culinary students provided the gourmet breakfast. The College service footprint in the Fond du Lac community topped 552 hours and almost $12,000--that number does not include several additional courses and projects not being tracked yet. We are very proud of the efforts of our faculty and students, seeking ways to enhance and strengthen our community connections through performance excellence.

 Members of both Brenda Schaefer's and Julie Dilling's courses from the spring 2013 semester.

 Overview of a service project.

 One group presents about their project with the Solutions Center.

Dr. Jim Eden, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Ms. Brenda Schaefer, S-L coordinator, Jenni Walsh, Executive Director of WiCC, and Dr. Sheila Ruhland, President of Moraine Park were on hand to celebrate and recognize our students' service efforts in the community.

 Q&A session

 The Culinary students delivered a beautiful gourmet breakfast to a packed room.

The College was also granted a VISTA volunteer to begin serving in August 2013. We are working with the Solutions Center to help heighten the awareness of poverty in our community. If you are interested in more information about the VISTA position, please contact Dr. Caron Daugherty at 920-924-3163 or cdaugherty@morainepark.edu.

Celebrating Service-Learning Successes

Service-Learning at Moraine Park Technical College is preparing for end-of-year celebrations and kudos.

April 25 was a big day for the service-learning program. At 9 a.m., service-learning students from a variety of programs (construction, corrections, HVAC, child care, etc.) united to assist the Solutions Center with the renovation of a Solutions Center house designed to provide temporary assistance to a family. The students provided radon assessments, did painting, helped with flooring, assisted with kitchen renovations, and prepared the home for the family's arrival. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place Thursday, April 25.

Students arranged an additional service-learning project for Thursday, April 26, by presenting to the campus community via a lunch n learn informatoin about food sustainability. Two special speakers were invited: Representatives from Nourish in Sheboygan spoke on how they take healthy foods into the schools; Representatives from Produce with a Purpose, a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, spoke on teaching people in Africa on how to farm for sustainability as well as details related to his local farm.

To cap the service-learning opportunities, the college is hosting a celebration breakfast to showcase several students' service-learning projects Thursday, May 2, from7:30-9 a.m. in the Cyber Cafe (A-109) at the Fond du Lac campus. The college appreciates what the students do to make a positive impact in our communities. This is a small way to express our appreciation and showcase their efforts.

Moraine Park: Local & International Service-Learning

Fond du Lac: Culinary Arts Students in Brenda Schaefer's Sociology course create delicious, healthy meals at an affordable price to share with the Solutions Center Women's Shelter in Fond du Lac. This service-learning project is educating women on how to cook healthy meals on a budget through recipe ideas and dietary information developed by these students.  Healthy eating can be affordable through these innovative cooking ideas.

Check out more opportunities for service learning by going to www.noblehour.com and joining the Moraine Park Technical College Community. Contact us if you have questions!





Costa Rica: In addition to the local impact our students and faculty make, our reach extends internationally. In January 2013, the college was able to provide representation on a Renewable Energy/Sustainability grant at Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. This YouTube video provides an overview of the types of renewable projects the group members completed for the community there. Amy Patterson, Beaver Dam Communication faculty, participated in this grant opportunity.

Community Connections Fair -- Beaver Dam

Moraine Park Technical College in Beaver Dam hosted the first Community Connections Fair for the Beaver Dam campus. The Fond du Lac campus hosted the same type of fair in September 2012, but we wanted to expand our reach to the Beaver Dam community. As a result, 9-10 community agencies were on hand in the student lounge/Beaver Dam cafeteria to take student applications for volunteer and service-learning opportunities. These agencies were included among the participants:

Red Cross

Dodge County Humane Society

YMCA of Dodge County

Green Valley Enterprises

People Against a Violent Environment (PAVE)

Bethesda Lutheran Communities and Thrift Store

Marsh Haven Nature Center
City of Beaver Dam--The Watermark

Beaver Dam Community Hospital

Hillside Manor Nursing Home

Badgerland Animal Reading and Comfort Companions (BARCC)

Thanks to Ms. Amy Patterson and Mr. Bayard Frederick for their work and determination to ensure this inaugural Community Connections Fair in Beaver Dam was a success. We appreciate everyone's support for our students and their potential service-learning opportunities. Thank you.

Service-Learning Updates

Classes start Monday, and several faculty are lining up their classes to work with community orgnizations through a variety of service-learning models Moraine Park employs to serve both the students and our community connections. It seems our "Community Connections" tag line, one of the College's Goal Statements through 2016, is catching on.

UW-FDL is hosting their "Community Connections" Fair Wednesday, Feb. 6, from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. This event is open to the public, and our faculty and students are welcomed to attend if interested. In addition, the Beaver Dam campus of Moraine Park showcases their community connections for service-learning on Thursday, Feb. 14, from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Contact Amy Patterson for more information related to that event.

In addition to the service-learning projects getting underway over the next few weeks through our campus, we are piloting a new tracking database to allow us to more accurately realize the service footprint Moraine Park, our faculty, our staff, our students and our college community are making within our local civic communities. A few of us will be working with the database this semester with plans to roll it out to the campus community in the fall semester. 

The college is also a member of the Wisconsin Campus Compact, and this organization allows us additional resources and opportunities for connecting with community, educational, organizational and statewide partners for service for our students. This statewide organization is a leader and innovator in service-learning and volunteer events for its membership. 

We look forward to posts that highlight the impact our faculty and students make in the community over the next 15-16 weeks.

New Title, New Focus, New Updates

Welcome to the revised international education blog, Experience-Based Learning. This blog supports several goals the bloggers intend for the site. 

First, we want to promote the experience-based learning opportunities the college provides students. While Moraine Park Technical College is an advocate for performance-based learning, students with MPTC will find Experience-Based Learning opportunities substantial supplements to their education. These opportunities include not only the international education voyages you've learned to follow through this blog but also the service-learning experiences many students acquire as part of their curriculum with the college.

You will still get the updates and photos to support the international travels, allowing you to follow your friends and colleagues as they engage in college-related travels. We have a familiarity excursion to Morocco scheduled for January, spring break travels to London, and end-of-semester treks to Germany (and additional locations--Italy? Paris? Amsterdam? Where will James' side trip be this year?). As a first, the college will be represented in Costa Rica for a service-oriented trip to increase international education opportunities at community/technical colleges. This venture combines international education with a service component--and the service takes us to the other aspect of the revised and renovated blog.

The college is committed to enhancing community connections, and service-learning experiences infuse aspects of the community in students' courses. With reflection being key to this fusion of curriculum, theory and application, service-learning activities support our role in the community and allow us to connect with community partners. Just as the Costa Rica trip extends and blends service and travel, a trip to the East Coast is being planned to support service to communities in need. A group of MPTC students plans to volunteer with Hurricane Sandy clean-up and assistance over spring break.

Please support us as we move forward with this new goal for the blog. Share us with your friends. Follow us. Better yet -- join us for experience-based learning, both on the local level with service-learning and at the global level through international education.