MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

As we commemorate President’s Day, it’s a good reminder to vote tomorrow. If you’re not sure where to vote, you can go to the Voter Public Access site to find out. Encourage your students to stop by the Wisconsin Association for Career and Technical Education (WACTE) “Get Out the Vote” table on Tuesday for voter information.

AQIP News
We will receive a site visit by the Higher Education Commission in April as part of the AQIP process now underway. During the Commission’s visit a series of meetings and an open forum will be conducted in which staff and faculty are invited to participate. Kelly Schulte is keeping a list of those interested in attending.

In preparation for the visit, this week begins a new series in MATC Matters that will take a look at different aspects of the AQIP process and how it helps us improve our present and plan for the future.

Go WolfPack!
There are lots of great reasons to come out and root for our MATC men’s and women’s basketball teams this week. Both teams are seeded No. 1 in their state regions, which means MATC will host state playoff games. This week’s playoff winners advance to the WJCAA State Basketball Tournament hosted by the MATC Athletic Department this weekend in our own Redsten Gymnasium. Visit the tournament information on the MATC Athletics website for complete information.

In addition, with the recent win against Mid-State Technical College, the WolfPack men’s basketball team earned a spot in the NJCAA Region XIII Championship Tournament in Minnesota on February 29 and March 1. The team will play Western Technical College in the WJCAA State Playoff game tonight at 7:30 p.m. here at MATC.

The MATC women’s basketball team earned the right to host the NJCAA Region XIII-A championship game after soundly beating conference rival Western Technical College. They’ll play for the title at 6 p.m. on February 29 at MATC.

Career Pathways success!
Thanks to all who participated in last week’s Career Pathways event focusing on our business programs! Some of the highlights: Graphic Design and Illustration engaged students with a creative and well-planned hands-on activity. Interior Design faculty and staff donned construction gear for their teambuilding activity. Barber/Cosmetology featured a great hair-cutting demonstration. Culinary wowed the students with fun food activities (including pizza making!), and Marketing had a great display and held an energetic prize competition. Other fun activities included indoor golf and computer graphics. Mario Quintana (Photography) pitched in at the last moment for a colleague that was out with a back injury. He developed a wonderful large scale photo display. Mark Nelson (Animation) is recovering from a serious auto accident, but still came to meet with prospective students. Teresa Sprecher (Visual Communications), in spite of being ill, hosted several students interested in the arts. Also, Dawn Anderson (PSRP staff) was very instrumental in putting together several displays and activities for the faculty. More than 300 students attended from area high schools and middle schools.

MATC Marvels
Here are this week’s “favorite teachers,” as mentioned to me by students:
Timothy Patterson, music instructor
Christina Whitted, ESL instructor
Ronald Koci, business technology instructor

Other MATC Marvels
Congratulations to Paul Short and the Culinary Arts and Bakery/Pastry Arts programs for earning accreditation this week from the American Culinary Federation. The Culinary program has received a five-year renewal and the Baking Pastry Arts has received a three-year renewal! Thanks to all involved for your help on this very exacting and involved process.

This month, Fusion Science Theater (FST) is premiering “Science in a Box: The Boiling Point,” an interactive science performance in schools and other venues around the area. In the February FST Newsletter (PDF: 320KB), Executive Director (and chemistry instructor) Holly Walter Kerby listed faculty and students who have provided interdisciplinary support to FST. We’d like to thank them and to thank Holly for her development and leadership of this innovative program. Support came from Visual Arts Communication program instructors Emmalee Pearson and Doug Dillman, intern Justin Eckert, Graphic Arts/Illustration program instructor Carol Moretti, Meeting and Event Management instructor Janet Sperstead as well as FST webmaster Joyce Johnston, a recent graduate of MATC referred by Mac Robertson.

Robert Gray, Jr., John Deere ag equipment instructor, and his students competed-and won-in the Post-secondary Agriculture Students Association (PAS) competition recently. MATC had seven teams and took first, second and third place positions! One MATC student, Cole Krupke, also won the highest individual points. This was the largest Agricultural Equipment Service Technician competition ever with 21 teams and 41 individuals competing.

Andy Czerkas, computer information systems instructor, and his wife Jenny are being honored as one of Wisconsin’s “Real Heroes” by the Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross. The couple were selected for their work through their River Food Pantry serving the Northport/Packers neighborhood. The pantry serves about 200 families every month and gives away 7,000 to 8,000 pounds of food weekly. They also serve a community dinner every Friday for between 200 and 250 people, and give away clothing and household items, large and small. Congratulations and thank you, Andy!

Highlights of my week

• Visited Illinois Central College, specifically marketing and foundation, and attended their cabinet meeting;
• attended TEMPO where we heard about the presidential race;
• met with part-time faculty union president Michele Anderson;
• attended College Council and met with master planning consultants;
• participated in the WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) initiative kickoff;
• attended the district board meeting;
• participated in the employee health assessment;
• attended the WTCS Statewide Marketing committee meeting; and
• met with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to talk about the future of the Villager Mall.

“Survive the storm” not only refers to the bad weather we’ve been experiencing, but also the sadness surrounding the tragic college campus shootings this week. My heart goes out to all the students, staff and families at Louisiana Technical College and Northern Illinois University and to the college community as a whole. I am reminded of this anonymous quote:

“Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.”

Bettsey