Meet the Board Members

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Josh Wykert, Board President

Josh grew up in Muscatine, IA and graduated from Muscatine High School in 2002.  After graduation, he attended Graceland University graduating in 2006 with a Bachelor’s Degree in both accounting and business administration, while playing on the football team.  It was at Graceland University that he met his wonderful and beautiful future wife, Erin. After graduating in May of 2006, Josh moved to Fort Madison beginning his career at Cryotech Deicing Technology as a General Ledger Accountant.  From there, his career at Cryotech has grown and morphed in to his current role as Finance Manager, overseeing the Finance, Distribution, Accounting, and Purchasing functions of Cryotech.

In his free time, Josh enjoys spending time with his wife, Erin, and two children, Colton and Lucene.  He also helps coach the high school football team, serving as an assistant coach specializing in the offensive line.  Given additional free time, he also make his own brats, sausage, and other delicious stuffed meat specialties.  

Josh was appointed to the school board for a two-month period from January to March of 2019, then fully elected to the board November of 2019.  He is passionate about ensuring every child in the district is able to obtain the absolute best education possible. 

Term ends: 11/2023

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Mio Santiago, Vice President

Having grown up in Fort Madison, Mio graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a major in History. After realizing that he was not going to open a history store any time soon, he decided to attend law school at California Western Law School in San Diego. During his time in San Diego, he was an intern for the law firm of Dawson & Ozanne, specializing in the area of civil litigation. He also worked as a law clerk with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In 2005, he moved back to Southeast Iowa to practice law. He is currently an attorney with the Kozlowski Law Group, LLC.

Mio has been honored to be a part of a lot of professional organizations. He is a former member of the Iowa State Bar Association’s Board of Governors as the representative for Judicial District 8B. He was appointed by the president of the ISBA to sit on the Rural Practice Committee, a committee established to focus on the challenges of practicing in a rural community. He has served on ISBA’s Ad Hoc Committee for Fair and Impartial Courts. Also, he was asked by Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins to sit on a committee charged with revamping the State’s ethical rules relating to Lawyer Advertising. He formerly served on the Iowa Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission and is currently on the Magistrate Nominating Committee for the 8th Judicial District.

He is a Past President of the Fort Madison Area Chamber of Commerce and has served on the Holy Trinity Catholic School’s God’s Portion Day Committee. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Soccer Academy (SESA), the Fort Madison Area Arts Association, and the Elliott Test Kitchen.

In his spare time, he enjoys playing music (guitar), spending time with his family, and coaching youth soccer.

Term ends: 11/2025

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Carol Ross

Carol graduated from FMHS in 1992 and then attended the University of Northern Iowa where she graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.  She took and passed the CPA exam in May of 1996. 
 
Carol lived in Cedar Falls until 1998 when she moved back to Fort Madison and started working for Ann Menke, CPA which is now Menke & Company. 
 
She currently live in West Point with her husband Troy and her children Nathaniel who is a senior at FMHS and Emily who is in 7th grade at FMMS. 
 
Carol enjoys reading, watching her kids in their activities – band, softball, and volleyball. She is involved in two of our PTOs.  Her first PTO involvement was on the Denmark PTO when her son was in Kindergarten. She has since been involved with the Lincoln PTG and FMMS PTO as treasurer.  She recently joined the Fort Madison Kiwanis organization.
 
Carol is most passionate about improving the education for the kids in our district.  She has been on the board since September of 2015 and has gone to the IASB conference in November every year.  Additionally she attended the PLC training conference in St. Charles in June of 2017.
 
Term ends: 11/2023

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Lois DiPrima

Lois is a graduate of Graceland University.  She has her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and a minor in Art and has multiple hours in continuing education. Lois holds both Iowa and Texas teaching licenses.

She taught Spanish and English in Weslaco, Tx in a program for four year olds and received her Bi-Lingual endorsement in Texas.  After teaching in Texas for three years she moved back to Illinois in 1977, where she worked as a Social Coordinator in a nursing home.  In 1979, she began working at Lincoln Elementary School teaching reading, and later art. Lois taught art for 37 years in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 8th, and later taught art part time for three years at Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary.
 
Upon retirement, she was elected to our school board.  In the summer she works as a 19th century  crafts demonstrator at the Joseph Smith Historic Site.  In the winter she works as a guide and a substitute. Lois is still actively involved in the music department. 
 
Lois shares that having a blended family has given her 8 grandchildren, and there are two more on the way!  Her hobbies include 19th century crafts, gardening, reading native american studies, music, art, and sewing. 
 
Term ends: 11/2023

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Paul Wilkerson

Paul is a 1967 graduate of Fort Madison High School and a 1972 graduate of Iowa Wesleyan College. He is married to Rev. Bonnie Wilkerson, and they have one son, Paul, and two grandchildren---Chad and Paul.

Paul retired after spending 40 years in education as a teacher, coach, counselor, and administrator. He has served on several public and private boards and committees, including the Holy Trinity Catholic Schools Board of Education---the Parks, Recreation and Docks Board--- the Fort Madison Marina Committee, and the Heartland Packaging Corporation Board of Directors. He is also the current coach of the Girls' golf team.

Term ends: 11/2025

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Dianne Hope

Dianne has been a resident of Fort Madison since 1976.  She grew up in Brookfield, Missouri and holds a BS in Business Administration from Truman University in Kirksville, Missouri. She began her career with the local DuPont plant and held several positions.  Dianne retired from a corporate Sourcing role that required support and travel to many DuPont, Pioneer, Solae and LiquiBox plant sites. Currently she serves as the FMCH Auxiliary Gift Shop Manager, is a host for Burlington Trailways Tours and enjoys working at the retail site for Matt’s Greenhouse every spring.

Dianne has three children that graduated from Fort Madison High School– Ben (1991), Erin (1997), and Andrew (2006).  Throughout her children’s years in the school district, she was very active in supporting class activities and served as FHMS Vocal Booster President and Dinner Theater Chairman, Bloodhound Booster Treasurer for 6 years along with numerous committees.

Dianne was elected to the FMCSD Board of Directors in 2015 and in 2019. She is continually looking to improve the education of FMSCD students, no matter what career path they may choose.  A top priority is continued improvement in the physical facilities of the District and upgraded curriculum.

Term ends: 11/2023

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Brad Menke

Term ends: 11/2025