Almost 70 high schoolers from Fond du Lac and New Holstein High Schools visited Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus for an exploration event in March.
The event was hosted for students interested in pursuing a career in robotics, manufacturing, or engineering. The students were split into groups and attended sessions to learn about five MPTC programs: Mechanical Design, CNC/Tool and Die, Welding, Electromechanical Technology, and Quality and Advanced Manufacturing.
“The goal of this event was to demonstrate to students at Fond du Lac and New Holstein High Schools what manufacturing, robotics, and engineering technology programs look like at Moraine Park Technical College,” Beth Roehl, K-12 partnership coordinator at Moraine Park, said. “We wanted to dispel some of the myths that students may have regarding manufacturing jobs in the community.”
Students had the opportunity to try their hands at welding, control robots, shadow capstone students, speak directly with recruiters and more.
“I came because I am interested in pursuing a technical career, but I don’t know exactly what I want to do,” Piper O’Connor, a freshman from Fond du Lac High School, said. “I wanted to explore what my different options are and learn more about Moraine Park since it’s so close to home.”
Several attendees are already earning college credit by taking dual credit courses or participating in Start College Now–a program enabling high school students to enroll in technical courses or general education courses to earn high school and college credit at the same time.
Learn more about dual credit opportunities at morainepark.edu/academics/k-12-resources/.