Welcome to the Warrior 196 Leadership Foundation Blog!

By Pam Shultz, Board Treasurer
Pam is an Addiction Medicine physician and lived in Apple Valley for more than 20 years, where she raised her four children. She currently resides in Lake Elmo, MN.

This is the first edition of the new Warrior 196 blog so we thought we’d start with a little history to catch you all up!

The Founding of Warrior 196 Leadership Foundation

2010 - Christopher Goeke Leadership Foundation (CGLF) was founded by friends and family of Chris, to honor his sacrifice and carry on the memory of his contributions to our community.

2011 – CGLF hosted its first annual Goeke Memorial Ultimate Frisbee Tournament and silent auction fundraiser and awarded its first scholarship.

2014 – Warrior 196 Memorial Trust formed to honor all five service members from District 196 who were killed in action. The Trust hosted its first annual 5K run and awarded scholarships to a student from each high school. 

2015 – Warrior 196 Leadership Foundation (W196LF) formed by merging these two organizations.

Today - The work of W196LF continues! With an all-volunteer Board of Directors, 100% of funds raised go to our mission, including annual scholarships to three students at each high school. Our two main events are the Chris Goeke Memorial Frisbee Tournament in May and Warrior 196 Memorial 5K in September.

Scholarships
I am most proud to say that over the years we have awarded over $106,000 in scholarships to 77 graduating seniors from Apple Valley, Eagan, Eastview and Rosemount high schools. This includes twelve students from the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program at each school. Applications are judged on a student’s community service, extracurricular experiences and their essays on the characteristics important to becoming a leader. Check out our Scholarships page for names and photos of our recent scholarship winners!   

Honor and Remember
From the beginning, we thought that the best way to honor and remember the young men from School District 196 killed in action, was to give back. Awarding scholarships in their memory to students who show similar leadership potential and commitment to their communities just made sense. As a member of the Board of Directors since the organization’s inception, and Chris Goeke’s mother, I can truly say that I am proud of what W196LF has done and continues to do. All five of these young men deserve to be honored and remembered!

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Focusing on our mission to honor service and encourage leaders, this blog will feature authors from the wide range of community members involved with the foundation. Watch for future blog posts from people like: 

• Scholarship recipients
• Ultimate frisbee players and coaches 
• Runners
• Active and former service members
• Board members

If you have a topic you feel could contribute to this community blog, or know of someone with a story to tell, please get in touch via our Contact page!