EVERGREEN PARK, IL – Evergreen Park Community High School District 231 has announced its senior class valedictorian and salutatorian for the 2021-2022 school year.

Valedictorian Thomas Gricus and Salutatorian John Bledsoe were the two guests of honor for EPCHS Principal Bill Sanderson at the Illinois Principals Association’s Student Recognition Breakfast at the Odyssey Country Club in Tinley Park on May 6.

Gricus is a member of the EPCHS National Honor Society, Mathletes, and was awarded the English Student of the Year. He’s also both an AP Scholar and Illinois State Scholar. In addition, Gricus was a varsity golfer and member of the varsity swim and dive team. He plans to attend Marquette University to become a software developer.

Bledsoe has had straight A’s for seven consecutive semesters at EPCHS, landing a weighted grade point average of 4.606. Besides maintaining his grades, Bledsoe was a three-sport athlete, participating in cross country, swim, and track. He’s also involved in the National Honor Society, Mathletes, Science Olympiad and Chess. Also an AP Scholar and Illinois State Scholar, Bledsoe plans to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for engineering.

“These two young men represent our all-American high school,” Sanderson said. “Between their academic involvement and success, and their athletic and extracurricular involvement and success, they have used the past four years at their community high school to prepare them for the next year and many years to come. I am so proud of both of them.”

Each year, Sanderson selects the EPCHS valedictorian and salutatorian to be his guests at the Student Recognition Breakfast, which includes 50 other schools in the South Cook region as well.