This Alterra teen graduated high school last month. Now, he’s running for school board

At 18, Nicolas Yendrzeski might be the youngest candidate to ever run for Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board.

“I want to become part of the board because I love MUSD,” said Yendrzeski, who has attended the district’s campuses since preschool. He’s a fresh graduate from Maricopa High School who wants to create a louder voice for Gen Z.

His campaign slogan: “Vision, opportunity, integrity, communication, education.”

He said it’s no mistake that it spells out the acronym, VOICE.

“I’m really grateful to be part of the school district in the community,” he said. “Like everything else, it’s not perfect. There’s always something you can do to make it better. I want to bridge that communication gap.”

Yendrzeski is wasting no time to begin door-knocking to gather voter signatures to get his name on the Nov. 5 ballot. He said people are also likely to see him gathering candidate petition signatures at Walmart or Fry’s Marketplace.

He said he sees himself in politics in the next 10 years, having an eye on a future Maricopa City Council seat after hopefully serving a term on the school board.

Ultimately, he sees a career in politics.

But first, the MHS advanced-placement student has been accepted at Arizona State University to major in political science. There he hopes to study political theory.

His interests also include IT and cybersecurity.

Yendrzeski was an honor student at MHS and received academic excellence recognition all four years of his high school career.

The Alterra resident said his MUSD education reached a turning point at Maricopa Elementary School where Principal Jennifer Robinson encouraged student communication with teachers and administrators.

She routinely met with students like Yendrzeski to hear what was on their minds.

“I know it’s hard for students to express themselves,” he said, adding Robinson got students like him involved and feeling they were a part of the school’s inner workings.

While he participated in student council at his elementary school, he joined Scholars on Special Assignment in middle school.

“It was a special program that allowed meetings with the principal,” he said. “A lot of my passion does stem from that.”

It was Yendrzeski’s introduction to community service, he said. Cleaning up trash with his fellow students and giving parents tours of the school were among the responsibilities given to SOSA students.

At MHS, Yendrzeski stood out as a Career and Technical Education student. He and another teammate demonstrated their mastery of critical cybersecurity protocols at the SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skill Conference in April. That earned MHS the gold medal in the cybersecurity field at the conference. Yendrzeski and another student produced a podcast called “The Controversy,” where they co-hosted candid discussions with guest speakers about issues that affect Maricopa students.

The young scholar shared his approach to communication:

“I believe in keeping an open mind. Everybody can be involved in one way or another. So, it’s important to listen to other people’s voices.”

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