Two new Maine Township District 207 board members named
Two men with extensive community service experience have been chosen to fill vacancies on the Maine Township High School District 207 board.
Des Plaines resident Edward Eicker and Park Ridge resident Dean Patras were selected to join the panel by the other board members during a special meeting Tuesday.
They'll be sworn in when the board next meets at 5 p.m. Monday at the district headquarters, 1177 S. Dee Road, Park Ridge.
The appointments were needed following the resignations of trustees Ashley Kilburg and Paula Besler. Both women stepped down because of plans to move out of the district.
Eicker serves on the Maine Township ethics commission and he is a volunteer with the Maine West High School band. He previously was involved with youth baseball in Des Plaines. Eicker is a composer and the music director at St. Paul of the Cross Church in Park Ridge.
Patras is a Maine Township High Schools Foundation trustee, a member of the District 207 Community Advisory Council and a Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce board member. He worked to promote the district's $240 million facilities improvement plan in 2018 and was on the Park Ridge Park District's Citizen Task Force. He is a Maine South High School alum and an executive with Horizon Therapeutics.
Eicker and Patras were among seven candidates who applied for the posts, according to a news release.
"When the (board) vacancy opened up, I thought maybe this is my time, my call to action if you will," Patras said Friday.
Eicker, also a Maine South alum who has a child attending Maine West, called being a school board member a great way to give back to the district and serve "my entire community."
Eicker and Patras stood out because of their community and career experiences, as well as their knowledge of district programs, board President Carla Owen said in the release.
The duo's seats will be up for election in April 2023.