19-year-old 2022 Sycamore High School graduate among new District 427 school board members

SYCAMORE – A 19-year-old Class of 2022 Sycamore High School graduate was sworn in as one of two new Sycamore Community School District 427 board members this week.

Alex Grados and Beth Marie Evans, the only two whose names appeared on the April 4 District 427 ballot, were sworn in this week. The district is soliciting interested Sycamore residents to fill a vacancy after not enough people ran in the local race.

Grados, 19, was a senior at Sycamore High School last spring and came to board meetings while he was still attending classes. Now committed to a four-year term as a board member, Grados said he’s going to work toward making the school district a great place for all students.

“I think it’s important to have different perspectives, and I think that’s something the board has had in the past and hopefully will continue,” Grados said. “We’ll do the best we can to make this a great place for all students.”

“I think it’s important to have different perspectives, and I think that’s something the board has had in the past and hopefully will continue. We’ll do the best we can to make this a great place for all students.”

—  Alex Grados, new Sycamore school board member, Class of 2022 Sycamore High School graduate

Fellow board rookie Evans said she has a degree in education from Northern Illinois University. She said she chose a career raising her family but recently was inspired to take up the school board role.

“Because as a single mother, I could not keep going to school,” Evans said. “Running for school board was a way for me to use my degree to help and give back to the community.”

Evans said that since she graduated from NIU, she has put three children through Sycamore schools and now, with an empty nest, got involved out of a desire to serve the community.

“So I just wanted to be really more involved in the community and see that things are really good for the students, that they can have the best opportunities to learn and become contributing members of society,” Evans said. “And that we keep our grades up, because I know in certain parts of the state there’s kids that can’t read.”

The school board also selected officers for this term, including another president term for Jim Dombek.

Board member Michael DeVito II was the lone pick for vice president, a nomination placed by Grados that DeVito said he was expecting. Board member Steve Nelson served as former vice president.

“I kind of got a heads-up from Alex that he thought I’d be a good fit for it, and then I talked with Steve [Nelson] after I had talked with Alex, like, ‘Hey, what am I getting myself into here? Would this be something that I should accept?’ ” DeVitto said. “And Steve kind of settled my concerns a little bit and offered his expertise and wisdom going forward if there’s anything I need to draw on his experience for, so that really helped.”