ALUMNI IN MOTION - Chippewa Valley Technical College

cvtc alumni association newsletter — summer 2012
ALUMNI IN MOTION
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The mission of the Chippewa Valley Technical College Alumni Association is to act as ambassadors for the College, provide services and
recognition to alumni, and support the Chippewa Valley Technical College vision and the missions of the Foundation and College.
“I’m very proud of having gone to CVTC.
I received great training, and because of
that high-quality training, I’ve been able
to move up in my career.”
—Jeanie Standard,
1999 CVTC Graduate
What’s Inside
• Alum Works to Save Tiny Lives
in Tanzania
• Memory of Student Lives on in
Scholarship
• CVTC Late Night Gala
• Celebrating CVTC’s Centennial
• New Alumni Association Board
• Congrats New Alums
Chippewa Valley Technical College
620 W. Clairemont Avenue | Eau Claire, WI 54701
715-858-1888 | email: alumni@cvtc.edu
www.cvtc.edu/alumni

changes to CVTC
alumni association
board of directors
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This year brings changes to the Alumni
Association Board of Directors. Thank you to
Connie Holden Peterson, Roger Leque, Mark
Anderson, and Nadine Hanke for donating
their time, talent, and expertise to the CVTC
Alumni Association. They will be greatly
missed. Connie remarks, “I’ve had the good
fortune of working with a lot of wonderful
alums. Even though my term on the board
is over, I hope to stay involved with the
College in some capacity.”
While we say good-bye to some of
our board members, we welcome new
members. Michele Koch is a 1984 Financial
Services Assistant graduate who has worked
at Northwestern Bank since she graduated.
She started as a receptionist and today
is the assistant vice president of human
resources. Wendy Stelter is a 1981 Criminal
Justice-Law Enforcement graduate and our
2011 Distinguished Alumnus. She started her
career working in theft prevention at Shopko,
worked on the Menomonie police force, and
today is the Chippewa Falls police chief. Tim
Haukeness is a 2007 Business Management
graduate. He completed his internship with
Chippewa Valley Habitat for Humanity and
today is the executive director. Tim
also owns Haukeness Properties,
LLC. Roger Stanford is a
1986 Marketing Management
graduate and is now CVTC’s
director of professional
development.
The board is happy to present
the new officers: President
Missy Kostman; Vice President
Debbie Labs; Treasurer Eric
Brusky.
CVTC CELEBRATES 100 YEARS!
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letter from President
Barker and Heidi Fisher
As we look around the district and in our
classrooms, it is amazing to consider that for 100
years CVTC has been working with businesses and
industry to provide the skilled workforce needed
to strengthen and grow our local communities.
In 1912 CVTC was much smaller, providing
classes in mechanical
drawing, shop arithmetic,
carpentry, sheet metal, cooking, citizenship, and
telegraphy. Since 1912, much has changed. We are
enhancing and expanding programing to provide
a strong workforce for west-central Wisconsin and
beyond. What has not changed over the years is the
quality of a CVTC education and the impact CVTC
has upon the communities in which we are located.
Without question, our alumni touch every area of the
community. It is likely not a day goes by for each of us
that we don’t interact with a graduate of CVTC.
We hope you enjoy the summer 2012 Alumni In Motion
newsletter. It is exciting to share a journey from one of
our alums, Jeanie Standard. Jeanie’s CVTC education provided a foundation
for her work in third world countries. We are honored to share the impact
that educational scholarships has for our students who have financial need
and/or are academically talented and once again this spring we hosted
a successful Alumni Gala. The Gala is a wonderful way to honor our
distinguished alumni, proven business partner, and award alumni association
scholarships and to celebrate CVTC and our community.
We would like to extend a special thank you to our Alumni Association
Board of Directors who volunteer countless hours to forward the mission of
the association. They are strong ambassadors for our college. This year we
have several who have completed their terms. Thank you to Connie Holden
Peterson, Roger Leque, Nadine Hanke, and Mark Anderson. We look forward
to working with incoming board members Roger Stanford, Tim Haukeness,
Wendy Stelter, and Michele Koch.
As alumni and friends of our College, you have been part of our strong
history and will help to shape our future.
We are grateful to you!
Bruce A. Barker
President
Chippewa Valley Technical College
Heidi Fisher
Executive Director
CVTC Foundation and Alumni Association

alum works to save tiny lives in Tanzania
Thirteen years after graduating from CVTC, Jeanie Standard found
herself in Tanzania, Africa, training midwives how to use ultrasound
equipment.
By U.S. standards, conditions were primitive. With no available
electricity, the handheld ultrasound model was powered by
batteries that had to be recharged after just one hour of use. Jeanie
was well-versed on operating the Vscan and Venue 40, though the
Vscan is more often used in U.S. medical care for “quick looks” in
the doctor’s office. Larger equipment can tell doctors much more.
Still, the small device provided much more diagnostic information
than what the country previously had available, and it fit the
available conditions.
Jeanie was one of just two GE Healthcare medical personnel
nationwide selected to travel to developing countries and train
midwives and other clinicians in ultrasound techniques. The goal is
to help reduce maternal and infant mortality rates as part of GE’s
international rural health initiative.
“It was an experience that I will never forget,” says Jeanie, who
spent 17 days in Tanzania in April 2012 and expects to return to
Tanzania within the next few months and then head to another
country.
The Tanzanian
government chose
clinicians from
“dispensary clinics”
to attend the 12-day
training course at
the Kisarawe District
Hospital. “We taught
them how to hold the
probe, do ultrasound
scans on patients, and review images from the scans. The
midwives had never seen an ultrasound machine, so this whole
concept was very new to them,” Jeanie says.
It was also very new and scary to patients. One pregnant woman
sobbed as she lay on the table, thinking it was going to hurt. A
native radiologist and sonographer, with whom Jeanie’s team
worked, assured the woman in Swahili that it wouldn’t.
As word of the new
technology spread among
women, including that it
wasn’t painful and that
moms could even learn
the gender of their baby,
the midwives eventually
did scans on up to 37
patients a day.
“We trained them to look for the heartbeat, placenta location,
fluid level, position of the fetus, and how to measure the head and
femur,” Jeanie explains. “We taught them how the ultrasound can
show if a baby is breech or covering the cervix, either of which
could require a C-section.”
“When I was there, I felt like I was going to make a difference in
a lot of lives,” Jeanie says, describing the impact the work had on
her. “They’ve never done anything like this in Africa, and knowing
that we’re going to try and help save mothers’ and babies’ lives is
absolutely awesome.”
Prenatal care is rare in Tanzania. “I felt like I stepped back 200
years in time. It was really hard for me because here we do
everything possible to help mom and baby.”
The midwives were excited to learn how to use the ultrasound
to help mothers. “They would sing to us at the end of each
day,” Jeanie vividly remembers. “They were so thankful that we
were there. We were teaching them to make a difference. For
me, changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people is
indescribable. Working in rural heath is addictive; you just want to
keep going back to help some more.”
Jeanie’s Diagnostic Medical Sonography degree from CVTC, along
with a Bachelor of Science in Women’s Health and Wellness from
Boston University, gave her the necessary skills for her job as
an applications specialist for GE, which led to her experience in
Tanzania.
“I’m very proud of having gone to CVTC. I received great training,
and because of that high-quality training, I’ve been able to move up
in my career.”
here’s to the class of 2012!
Over 700 students completed their CVTC programs this past May. According to Business Management graduate,
Tim Anderson, “I have changed my world because of the education I received at CVTC.” Congratulations and
good luck to all the graduates as they continue the journey started at CVTC of pursuing their career goals.

CVTC late night gala
In April CVTC Alumni Association hosted a record-setting
2012 Spring Gala. Over 250 people came together to
honor the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus, the 2012 Proven
Business Partner, and the 2012 Alumni Association
Scholarship recipients, as well as to celebrate CVTC’s
centennial year. Once again, CVTC’s River Falls manager,
John Kleven, entertained the crowd as the late night talk show
host while randomly throwing out CVTC trivia questions. We
also welcomed CVTC’s centennial mascot, Centennial Man, and
Oreo Cookie Guy as special guests. Visit the 2012 Spring Gala
website, www.cvtc.edu/SpringGala, to experience the evening.
Congratulations to Mark Franson, our 2012 Distinguished
Alumnus. Mark has been instrumental in the continued growth
of CVTC and our communities. “I’m happy to help out however
I can,” Mark states. “CVTC has played a big role in my personal
and professional life.” He came to CVTC to figure out what to do
with his life. He chose the HVAC program --- actually it picked
him as that was the program pamphlet he pulled out of the
stand he sent spinning. Shortly after graduating in 1986, Mark
joined the team at Bartingale Mechanical and today is the vice
president in charge of operations. “It’s kind of cool being selected
this year, the College’s 100-year anniversary.”
Northwestern Bank, a locally owned community bank, is this
year’s Proven Business Partner. The company demonstrates a
concern for career and technical education through volunteer and
monetary support, hiring many CVTC graduates, and partnering
with the College to help further its mission. Established in 1904,
Northwestern Bank to this day continues its time-honored
tradition of supporting and giving back to the community. As
Jerry Jacobson, president of the bank, shared, “In giving this
award, CVTC considers what a business’s employees give to the
community. This award recognizes that our employees are willing
to pitch in and give extra to our community. That’s the most
important thing about this award for us.”
Congratulations to the three recipients of the CVTC Alumni
Association Scholarship: Stacey Geist, Kent Lehmann, and
Kari Sarauer.
Thank you to our 24 sponsors and everyone for sharing the
evening with us.
Calendar of Events
7/26/12 Summer Graduation
8/17-19/12 Big Rig Truck Show
9/22/12 CVTC Centennial Open House
12/1/12 2013 Distinguished Alumni
Applications Available
12/17/12 CVTC River Falls Graduation
12/18/12 CVTC Eau Claire Graduation
1/31/13 2013 Distinguished Alumni
Applications Due
> Make a difference and support CVTC.
Consider making a gift to the CVTC Alumni Association.
> To make a gift, complete and return the following form or go to
www.cvtc.edu/alumni to donate online.
m Yes! I/We would like to make a contribution of $
to the CVTC Alumni Association via the Foundation.
m Please update my address information as indicated below.
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Please return this form with your check made payable to CVTC Foundation, Chippewa Valley Technical College, 620
West Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54701-6162. Your contribution is tax deductible, as allowable by law.
Thank you, from the Chippewa Valley Technical College Alumni Association.
Your gift to CVTC will provide the needed support to:
• equip programs with modern instructional equipment
• provide faculty with up-to-date technology expertise
• fund scholarships for deserving students and recognize academic excellence

memory of student lives on in
scholarship recipient
Though Matthew Overhulser passed away just days before his acceptance
letter into CVTC’s Nursing program arrived, his career goals live on in Charlie
Piskula, the first recipient of the Matthew Overhulser Scholarship. Like
Matthew, Charlie is a nontraditional student who aspires to become a nurse.
“The scholarship means so much to me,” Charlie says. “I am honored to be
the first recipient and to have Matthew’s name remembered through me.
As a nontraditional male student, I am much like Matthew was, and I look
forward to becoming an RN and making a difference in people’s lives.”
On July 22, 2011, Matthew was a passenger in one of two boats that
collided on the Chippewa River. He and three others didn’t survive the crash.
Matthew had been pursuing a nursing degree at CVTC. He had completed
all prerequisite courses and was on the waiting list to enter the program.
“Matthew wanted to share his compassion with others in order to make
a difference in people’s lives,” says Karen Overhulser, his mother. “He
knew he needed to further his education in order to further his career. This
scholarship may remind other nontraditional students to seek opportunities
to follow their dreams.”
Matthew studied hard to earn good grades and was proud to attend CVTC,
Karen says. His wife, Taira, a graduate of CVTC’s LPN and RN programs,
greatly influenced his decision to return to school. “I was so proud of him,”
Karen says. Matthew’s late father, Gerald, was also a graduate of CVTC in
the Materials Management and Truck Driving programs.
Charlie plans to honor Matthew’s memory as he continues his education.
“I have learned a lot from the stories shared about Matthew’s life. I will
dedicate myself to my education and my goal of becoming an RN and being
able to provide care for people for years to come.”
When Karen met Charlie, she saw traits of Matthew in him. “I was
immediately impressed with his infectious smile and could feel the
passion he had to become an RN,” Karen says. “His smile
and physical stature reminded me so much of Matthew.
He is very caring and compassionate, as was Matthew. I
was also impressed with how he has
overcome several hardships, yet he
is determined to become an RN and
will never give up. I am confident that
Charlie will be an excellent nurse.”
This year, CVTC Foundation
awarded 233 scholarships
totaling over $114,000.
Congratulations to all
recipients, and thank you to
all donors.

trivia corner
This issue’s
trivia question is:
In what year did
Eau Claire’s
Vocational School
award its first
technical program
diploma
R
T
I
V
A
I
620 W. Clairemont Avenue
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 43
Eau Claire, WI
The new CVTC centennial book will be given to the
first two correct answers. Email your answer to:
alumni@cvtc.edu.
The answer to the trivia question from the last
issue: In what year was the pedestrian bridge over
Clairemont Avenue built 1978
celebrating CVTC’s centennial
As part of the centennial celebration, CVTC has created a book, which
shares the history of CVTC. From how the technical college system got
started in 1911 to how CVTC grew over the years, the book has some
wonderful photos that will bring back many memories. Stop by the
CVTC bookstore in the Business Education Center to pick one up today
or visit www.cvtc.edu/centennial to order your book online.
Excerpt from the book: “CVTC helped train and educate the workforce needed for each
generation. We’ve helped students of all ages find successful careers. We helped make
our workforce stronger and more diverse. CVTC’s history is the history of west-central
Wisconsin.” — Bruce Barker, CVTC President
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online giving
You can support CVTC through online donations to the fund of
your choice. Visit www.cvtc.edu/alumni and click on the Make
Your Gift Today button.
Alumni newsletter is also on the web!
Visit www.cvtc.edu/alumni.
Join the CVTC Alumni Facebook
page to stay up-to-date!
Alumni Association Board Members
• Eric Brusky • Debbie Labs
• Tom Day • Dan Pekol
• Tim Haukeness • Roger Stanford
• Michele Koch • Wendy Stelter
• Missy Kostman
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Staff
• Heidi L. Fisher, Executive Director
• Jen Bremness, Assistant
Chippewa Valley Technical College is an equal opportunity/access employer and educator. For more information, please visit www.cvtc.edu/eeo.
Keep us up-to-date! Send your updated information to alumni@cvtc.edu.