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Alumni Spotlight

No Horsin' Around

The magnificent American Quarter horse trots confidently into the show ring. Sitting tall in the saddle and extraordinarily dress is his owner and 2002 WITC marketing associate degree graduate, Tina Nygren.

"I've shown horses for 23 years, and I've always had a passion for nice show clothing, so it was my dream to own a world champion consignment clothing business. I wanted to help people with their expensive horse show clothing expenses, so they can get something back from their investment," Nygren explains.

Why did you choose WITC?

"My education at WITC enabled me to pursue the needed business plan to start my business. In fact, my marketing degree project WAS my business plan!"

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

Commitment to Community

Because of her dedication to lifelong learning and serving her community, Erin Tenney has been selected as WITC-Ashland's Distinguished Alumni. She has also been selected to represent WITC for the state Outstanding Alumni Award.

A 2002 graduate of WITC's nursing-associate degree program, Tenney has devoted her career to providing women's health nursing in Red Cliff, where she has been the maternal and child health nurse. Tenney, who earned her bachelor's degree from Northland College in 2006, and she has recently completed a master's degree of nursing-midwifery from Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Practice Nursing.

"I knew since I was 17 that I wanted to be a midwife," Tenney says. "But when I became pregnant, I realized I wanted to be a midwife nurse."

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

The Sky's the Limit

An optimistic phrase says the only place to go is up. This is advice Casandra Baer definitely took to heard.

After graduating from the Mechanical Design Technology program at WITC-Rice Lake, Baer continued her education at the University of Wisconsin-Stout where she's currently an engineering technology major.

The Dairyland, Wis., native took part in a 10-week internship program conducting research at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. During the internship, Baer researched bonding ceramics to metals, which will be used at high temperatures and investigated ways to reduce stress in joints. This helps to determine the best fuel tube material and brazing alloy for fuel injector use in the next generation of efficient gas turbines.

Why did you choose WITC?

Many of the classes that I am taking are similar to classes I had at WITC, but more in-depth. The classes at WITC help me understand the more complex information that is being taught at Stout.

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

All in the Family

It's easy to see the family resemblance in the four young women seated around the table. They share facial features, a good sense of humor, infectious giggles and a verbal shorthand with each other that often occurs with close siblings. Growing up as the four "Ross sisters" in Superior, Wis., each one is unique in her own right; but all share caring and compassionate spirits that led them to careers in the health field.

All four attended WITC-Superior, with Andrea, Alissa and Hilary graduating from the Nursing program, while Haley earned her Nursing Assistant certificate (CNA).

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

Paths Destined to Cross

She was supposed to be sleeping after working the night shift. He never rode that route on his bicycle. But on a stifling August 31, 2008, Fate had a different plan for these two people -- one a WITC-New Richmond RN graduate, the other a benefits manager.

Gisele Coleman was roused from her normal sleep to go pick up her 4-year-old from her uncle's house. On her way home -- and back to bed -- she saw a man lying in the street, his toppled bicycle nearby. At first she wasn't sure what she was seeing, was it some kind of a joke? But then she noticed the man was blue. She stopped and looked around to see if others had noticed the situation. Seeing no one, she called 9-1-1 and immediately began CPR as the man was not breathing. It was the first time Gisele had ever done CPR on a human.

Why did you choose WITC?

They really care and nurture their students. They take you under their wing. Whenever I hear about people looking to go to school, I always tell them to look into WITC.

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

Back on the Farm

From the time he was a boy, whenever Sean Klatt was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he was sure to answer, 'a farmer.'

He loved his family's dairy farm; taking care of the cows, being out in nature and working hard from sun-up to sundown. Sean isn't one to sit much. As he grew older he even took jobs on neighboring farms.

While still in high school, Sean was able to work toward an associate degree in Dairy Herd Management at WITC-Rice Lake through the Youth Options program. Sean appreciated how WITC courses are directly related to a career, to the point and are for people who really know what they want to do -- and are taught by people who are or have been dairy farmers.

Sean was able to spend mornings taking college courses and then attended high school in the afternoon. This made for some long days, starting with farm chores early in the mornings, sports after school, followed by more evening chores at home. That's a heavy load for a teenager.

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

At an early age, Joe Yakesh realized that he wanted to work in construction.  WITC helped make that dream a reality.

As a teenager, Joe Yakesh worked part-time for his cousin's construction company during the summers and on weekends. It was more than a way to make extra money - the experiences helped convince him to pursue a career in the trade. After graduating from WITC's Wood Technics program in 2005 at age 20, Yakesh launched Bloomer, Wis., - based Quality Construction & Remodeling LLC. He recently shared some insights into his passion for his work and the growth of his company.

Why did you choose WITC?

I think what separates WITC from other colleges is it's attention to detail. It's a very well-rounded school, and the courses are carefully laid out. Each has a purpose and relates to the other courses. The staff and instructors take the time to get to know you.  Instructors were happy to sit down with students after class if they had questions.

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

Terry Kramolis is dedicated to her job with Ashland County - but then, she would have to be to cover its many facets.

In health care, you need a good foundation. We had wonderful instructors at WITC, and they made you work hard. It lit a fire and showed me that was possible.  I thought:  If I can do this, I can do everything. It was a solid basis for nursing.

Why did you choose WITC?

I always wanted to be a nurse, so I went back after I was married and had children.  It was local, and it had a good reputation - in particular, the nursing program had a stellar reputation.

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

WITC graduate Maren Almstedt is sparking diversity in the classroom, and has big plans for her future welding career.

Maren Almstedt has found a niche in a realm - welding - that has long been considered a nontraditional career field for women.  But the 2005 graduate of WITC-Superior's Welding Program isn't bothered by labels. In fact, she's quite happy with both her degrees and her new role as a teaching assistant (TA) for her former instructor. And this is only the start.

How was your experience at WITC?

My experience was excellent! I've got life skills for a career. My instructor, John Palmer, was an outstanding teacher who instilled in us a strong sense of work ethic on the job. I would definitely recommend WITC to aspiring technical students.

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

Foundation for friendship: Six graduates keep friendship that started 30 years ago

The year was 1977: Jimmy Carter was President, the Apple II personal computer went on sale, Elvis Presley died, and five young women just out of high school enrolled in the Secretarial Science Program (now called Administrative Assistant) at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Rice Lake. It never occurred to them that 30 years later, they would still be friends.

Jeanne Klukas, Carol Nygren, Becky Brust, Sue Hammond and Kelly Brown enjoyed their time at WITC. They studied together, joined clubs and went to campus dances. It was during their second year that Barb Malom joined the WITC staff. Just out of college, Malom was not much older and a friendship was formed outside of the classroom.

After graduation, Hammond, Klukas, Nygren and Brust found jobs in Minnesota. Malom and Brown remained in Rice Lake. Malom continued teaching, and Brown got a job at WITC right after graduation.

The following years were filled with careers, weddings, children, divorces and all that life brings. Yet the six friends were determined to stay in touch, even though they were spread from northern Wisconsin to southern Minnesota. They now manage to e-mail each other about once a month and arrange to meet for dinner twice a year.

"We’re all small-town Wisconsin girls at heart," Hammond says. When they get together "it seems we just pick it right back up where we left off."

For more, see the Alumni Spotlight in Career Impact.

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