Decorah Community School District Foundation

DRC Sponsor: Don Holmertz

Fellow Decorah Rotarian and Decorah Community School District (DCSD) Foundation Board Member John (JT) Vogel will speak to our members about the activities, accomplishments, and goals of the DCSD Foundation.

The DCSD Foundation is devoted to increasing resources for District students, and excellence in the educational opportunities, services and facilities of the Decorah Community Schools. In 2025, the Foundation awarded over $130,000 to students who graduated from Decorah High School. The Founndation has awarded hundreds of thousands in grants and scholarships to well over 3,000 Decorah Students since it began in 1991. In addition to scholarships for grauduating seniors, the Excel Program is designed to motivate students in grades 6-11 to achieve higher educational goals by pursuing educational opportunities outside Winneshiek County by offering scholarships for summer programs. The Foundation also oversee the Freerking Spanish Study Grant, faculty development funds, and the Osler and Blue Jean Funds.

In addition to his involvement in the DCSD Foundation and Rotary, JT is a family medicine and obstetrics physician with WinnMed. He received his medical degree from the Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2012. His special interests include obstetrics, lifestyle medicine, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. Previously he had been serving in the U.S. military as assistant professor of family medicine at the Uniformed Services University and as a family medicine faculty physician at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA.

---

**Please complete your noon meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advace to all members by email.