Before retiring, Beaverton Superintendent Don Grotting served with the first Oregon School Board Member of the Year, Anne Bryan. He sees a lot of similarities with this year’s winner, Beaverton School Board member Becky Tymchuk.
“They both have a deep, deep desire to do what’s right for kids, first and foremost,” he said. “They bleed Beaverton through and through, but it isn’t just about Beaverton. They are very involved at the state and national level.”
On Saturday, Tymchuk was honored at the 76th OSBA Annual Convention at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront. OSBA Executive Director Jim Green also introduced 2020 winner Alicia Hays of the Eugene School Board and 2021 winner Laurie Danzuka of the Jefferson County School Board, who missed out on being recognized at an in-person annual convention.
Tymchuk, who was elected in 2015, shared with attendees lessons she has learned about board work, including the true role of school board members, their collective power and the need to keep the focus on students.
“I never doubted that I was working hard at work worth doing,” she said.
Tymchuk credits Bryan, who was on the Beaverton School Board until 2020, with showing her what it means to be an effective school board member.
“She taught me that you can care and be empathetic and still hold people accountable,” she said. “We have to be good fiscal managers. That shows we care as much as the touchy-feely things.”
Tymchuk said Bryan taught her that true board work was behind the scenes doing hard time digging through data and making strategic plans.
People who served with Tymchuk said she learned the lessons well and is an indefatigable force for students. They credit her board leadership with carrying the district through difficult financial times, social unrest and the unprecedented disruption of a global pandemic.
“Her energy and the passionate vibe she brings are inspiring,” Green said. “She is a dynamic powerpack of a person.”
Current Beaverton board Chair Tom Colett said he, in turn, has learned a lot from Tymchuk. Tymchuk talks to all sides and builds consensus, creating solutions that pull people together, he said.
He also credited her leadership and political acumen with propelling the passage of a $723 million school bond in May.
Grotting, a 2014 Oregon Superintendent of the Year while at the David Douglas School District, was hired by Beaverton in 2016, about the same time Tymchuk became board vice chair. He nominated Tymchuk for this year’s award, praising her deep engagement with schools.
“She takes the time to listen and understand,” he said. “Then after she understands, she makes an informed decision, and she’s not afraid to make a tough decision.”
Tymchuk was board chair when the pandemic hit. Grotting said Tymchuk wanted to know why and how he was making decisions but respected their different roles and always supported him.
Grotting praised Tymchuk’s work ethic and the countless hours she puts in as a school district leader and a school volunteer. Tymchuk is a regular visitor to school classrooms and is an AVID tutor.
Lilly Le, a Conestoga Middle School eighth grader, said a school board member visiting the classroom helps make her feel like the school board cares about their success.
“She is making sure we can achieve our dreams, no matter our status or background,” Le said.
Kelly Paris, a school support specialist, said Tymchuk’s presence makes staff feel valued as well. She said Tymchuk takes the time to hear teachers’ concerns so she really knows what is going on in schools.
Tymchuk also served as the liaison to the Beaverton Student Advisory Committee.
David Chen, a 2018 Beaverton graduate who was on the committee, said Tymchuk made sure students had a voice in district policies and felt important.
“She always had a listening ear,” he said. “You could tell she was really devoted to students.”
OSBA launched the award in 2018 to recognize outstanding board members who make a difference in their communities. A committee picks the winner based on board members’ efforts in advocacy, leadership and student achievement. Winners receive a year of free OSBA event registration and are enshrined on a plaque in OSBA’s Salem office.
Tymchuk, who is married with two adult children, runs a business that helps nonprofits with fundraising. A fundraising effort for new sports facilities led to her first school board run. Her son, the younger of the two, was a junior when she was elected.
Like a lot of school board members, she was also motivated by the opportunity to hand her child a diploma. The joy was multiplied for Tymchuk because she was deeply involved with her children’s school lives, getting to know all their friends.
“The absolute highlight of my school board time was being able to give these people I had known since kindergarten their diplomas,” she said.
On the other end of the spectrum was the “tough sledding” during the pandemic. Tymchuk is proud, though, of the way her experienced board and superintendent worked together to keep the focus on doing the best they could for the students.
She said the top school board lessons she learned from that are to be respectful even when people have differences of opinions and to keep her eye on why she became a school board member.
“For me, it was to do best by kids,” Tymchuk said.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
[email protected]
