DC West Schools Foundation is operated by a volunteer Board of Directors. Meet the board members making things happen behind the scenes!

What led you to want to join the board?
As a new member, I’m excited to serve and help our schools, staff, students and community!

What do you enjoy doing outside of your board role? (career, hobbies, family, other DC West ac.vi.es, etc.)
Outside the board, I love spending time with my family (husband Jim and
two daughters, Edie and Willa), growing all sorts of veggies in my garden and using my Peloton! My career background is in education but am currently staying at home to raise my girls and work part time for our family company, Rob See Co.

Tell me a little about your background. (hometown, school, etc.)
I grew up in Papillion, Nebraska, received a bachelor’s in both elementary and special education from University of Nebraska at Kearney. I taught k-6 special education in both Papillion LaVista and San Diego Community School Districts.

What are some of your favorite things about DC West?
I love the close knit community feel of DC West!

What do you hope to see this board achieve in the coming year or years?
It would be incredible to add even more amazing educational opportunities for our students and staff that can be found in larger districts, while maintaining our quaint community feel.

Why do you think others should support or get involved with DC West Schools Foundation?
The DC West Schools Foundation is a great way to be involved in the improvement of our schools- we want the best for our students, right? How cool we can help do that at home and at school!

What is a ‘fun fact’ about you?
I have a life goal of some day becoming a master gardener!

Anything else you’d like to share with the community?
I am also currently serving as President of the Waterloo Public Library Board of Trustees

Interested in getting more involved with the Foundation? Visit https://dcwestschoolsfoundation.org/get-involved/ or email dcwestschoolsfoundation@gmail.com.

DC West Schools Foundation is operated by a volunteer Board of Directors. Meet the board members making things happen behind the scenes!

Traci Gratopp, Director

What led you to want to join the board?
I was a public-school special education teacher for many years.  I think the DC West Schools Foundation can offer a variety of supports to our teachers and students.  

What do you enjoy doing outside of your board role? (career, hobbies, family, other DC West activities, etc.)
My husband and I have two kids.  Our daughter is a 2022 graduate of DC West.  Our son in in his junior year at DC West.  I enjoy working with my husband with our business.  I love to garden and travel.   

Tell me a little about your background. (hometown, school, etc.).
I grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA.  My family moved to NE and so I attended UNL and received my bachelor’s degree in Speech Language Pathology and my Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education.  I taught in the Papillion Public School District and the Elkhorn Public School District.  I have also been a long-term sub in the preschool at DC West.  And for a brief time I fulfilled a bucket list item by teaching at Midland University.  

What are some of your favorite things about DC West?
I love the small-town atmosphere of our school district which allows for many opportunities for our students.  I think we have amazing teachers, administrators and families in our community.  

What do you hope to see this board achieve in the coming year or years?
I would like to see our community join us and help us grow! This would allow us to provide supports to our teachers and students and improve upon the programs and facilities our schools have in place. 

Why do you think others should support or get involved with DC West Schools Foundation?
As they say, it takes a village!  We all have something to offer! 

What is a ‘fun fact’ about you? 
Hmmm, I’m a southpaw.  Or, ask me what I once ate while on a trip in Africa?

Anything else you’d like to share with the community? 
Join us!  We would love your support! 

Gerardo Najera attended DC West High School for his Senior year and graduated in 2015. During his time at DC West, he ran on the cross country and track teams. In cross country, he medaled at the State competition and was selected for All-State in Class C.

After graduation, Gerardo attended Iowa Western followed by Bellevue University to continue his education and running career. At Bellevue University, he set the school record at the time for the 5K and 10K races.

Currently, Gerardo lives in California with his wife, Hana, and two children, Yusuke and Himawari. Following inspiration from Coach Hall at DC West, Gerardo works as a high school cross country coach. He said he “loves being a coach and to be able to share and teach the sport I love, and to pass all the knowledge on I know about the sport. I hope to continue to coach for as long as I can to help motivate and impact the students’ lives in the best way that I can.”

Gerardo said he loved his experience at DC West and wished he could have spent more time being involved during his time here. Though, cross country and Coach Hall left a great impact on his life and led him to want to be a coach. He says that even though he moved out of Nebraska, he keeps up with DC West on social media. “Go Falcons!”

Thank you for sharing Gerardo! It’s great to hear what an impact DC West made!

We’d love to hear and share what you have been up to since graduation! Please visit our Alumni Spotlight Submission page and fill out the form, you could be spotlighted next! If you are up to sharing some photos, please email those to dcwestschoolsfoundation@gmail.com.

View previous Alumni Spotlights

DC West Schools Foundation is operated by a volunteer Board of Directors. Meet the board members making things happen behind the scenes!

Heather Cox, Treasurer

What led you to want to join the board
I wanted to give back to the school and the community in a different role.

What do you enjoy doing outside of your board role? (career, hobbies, family, other DC West activities, etc.)
High School Math Teacher for 23 years so far and still sponsor the cheerleaders and Student Council.  I enjoy reading all types of books and going to and watching sporting events.

Tell me a little about your background. (hometown, school, etc.).
I grew up in Plainview, NE and graduated high school in 1995.  I earned my bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan and have since earned two Master’s Degrees (one at UNO and the other at Concordia University)

What are some of your favorite things about DC West?
I love that we are still a small school.  I feel like DC West includes everyone and is my second family.

What do you hope to see this board achieve in the coming year or years?
I will like to see the board continue to add scholarships and other ways to support our students and faculty

Why do you think others should support or get involved with DC West Schools Foundation?
I think it’s important for others to help us fundraise to have the necessary funds to offer the scholarships, classroom grants, etc.

What is a ‘fun fact’ about you?
I minored in Japanese.

Jim Knott, Board Secretary (note taker)

What led you to want to join the board? 
There was a desire to continue to have a school administrator on the Foundation Board after Mr. Krusemark left three years ago. I drew the shortest straw and the rest is history.  Actually, I agreed to fill the vacant spot because I felt I could represent the Middle and High School perspective on the Foundation Board.

What do you enjoy doing outside of your board role? (career, hobbies, family, other DC West activities, etc.) 
I am starting my 11th year as the High School Principal at Douglas County West. I enjoy woodworking, home improvement, boating, fishing, and following Iowa State athletics outside of my school duties. I am married to my wife Courtney (20 years) and we have two children, Jackson (12) and Kendall (9). Jackson is a 6th grader and Kendall is a 3rd grader at DC West Elementary and Middle Schools.

Tell me a little about your background. (hometown, school, etc.) 
My wife and I both attended Missouri Valley Community Schools in western Iowa. We also both attended Iowa State University for our undergraduate degrees. I also have a Master’s Degree in School Leadership from Northwest Missouri State University and a Specialist Degree in School Leadership from Doane University. I was a high school social studies teacher (11 years)  and head varsity football coach (13 years) before I moved into high school administration.

What are some of your favorite things about DC West? 
I love that DC West is large enough to offer students a wide variety of classes and activities but small enough where students can participate in many things and are never a “number.” I believe DC West is in the “sweet spot” when it comes to school size.

What do you hope to see this board achieve in the coming year or years? 
I hope to see the Foundation continue to grow in membership and donation levels in order to further support the student and teacher wish lists for DC West.

Why do you think others should support or get involved with the DC West Schools Foundation? 
I think the Foundation is a great cause and donating is easily justified. Most people can get behind donating when they can see the fruit of their donations play out in front of their eyes in their local community. Schools are where the future is shaped in the present day, and in smaller communities like Valley, Waterloo, and the surrounding areas, I see great pride in the schools and kids.

What is a “fun fact” about you? 
I have a large arsenal of “dad jokes” that I like to tell my kids at home or around their friends. They usually groan and are embarrassed by this which causes me to do it more often!

Anything else you’d like to share with the community? 
The DC West School Foundation is a great group to be a part of or to donate to. All time and money goes back to the kids at DC West in some form. 

This month, DC West Schools Foundation awarded four classroom grants to teachers at DC West Community Schools. Classroom grants aid teachers and staff in providing additional funding for educational opportunities beyond traditional resources. Applications for classroom grants are reviewed and approved by building Principals and the Superintendent before being considered by DC West Schools Foundation.

The first classroom grant was awarded to support the Falcon Achievement Center, a program focused on credit recovery, career exploration, employability skills training and work-based learning. Alternative Education teacher Randy Donner intends to use the funds to purchase small incentives to engage students to accomplish their goals.

A second classroom grant was awarded to provide students in the ‘Introduction to Health Careers’ course access to an app with interactive 3D and augmented reality experiences to connect course concepts and terminology with real-world applications. Through simulations, students are able to gain real-life proficiencies and insight into careers in healthcare. Tracy Larsen, teacher of the course, said the app can also benefit students enrolled in other courses such as Anatomy and Physiology.

The third classroom grant was awarded to support coursework in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields. Lisa Leonard, the STEM and Computer Science teacher in DC West High School, will be using the funds to purchase two types of kits for students. The first kit provides the supplies to build a small robot and the second kit includes materials to learn about electrical circuits and how to illuminate LED lights. Through these kits, students will gain hands-on experience with concepts relevant to potential future careers in STEM.

A final classroom grant was awarded to assist the ‘Falcon Brew’ program. ‘Falcon Brew’, led by Special Education teacher Lisa Masters, is a program at DC West Middle School where students deliver coffee, tea, muffins and brownies to DC West teachers and staff. The skills-based program educates students in social skills, hygiene, basic math as well as builds transition opportunities. The classroom grant funds will be used to help jump-start this program while it continues to grow and develop.

DC West Schools Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization supporting the students and staff of DC West Community Schools. To learn how you can contribute, visit the Donation page.