Young Citizen of the Year 2024: Alexis McCullough

Like many teenagers, Alexis “Lex” McCullough is hard to define.

Some of the many activities she’s been involved in help to paint a picture of the 17-year-old Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School junior.

Dedicated girl in Boy Scouts of America Troop 319G with a sash full of merit badges who’s set her sights on becoming an Eagle Scout.

Enthusiastic theater, choir, orchestra and band kid who has been picking up a new instrument every year since middle school.

Middle school wrestler turned pageant queen who was crowned Miss Will County’s Teen 2025 and is practicing her poise for future competitions.

Tell McCullough she cannot do something, and she will almost certainly set out to do it.

When she sets a goal for herself, there’s little that can keep her from running at it full force, especially with her mom, Cassandra McCullough, in her corner as her biggest supporter.

HONORING GOLD STAR FAMILIES

One of McCullough’s most lofty goals is already coming to fruition.

For her Eagle Scout Service Project, she is partnering with the Woody Williams Foundation to bring a Gold Star Families Memorial Monument to Marcotte Park at 1140 Main St. NW, Bourbonnais.

The large-scale, black granite monument will feature four panels representing the ideals of Homeland, Family, Patriot and Sacrifice. The other side will read, “Gold Star Families Memorial Monument: A tribute to Gold Star Families and Relatives who sacrificed a Loved One for our Freedom.”

The loss of Alexis’ father, Col. Mark McCullough, from a heart attack in 2019 and the network of support she discovered afterward fueled her desire to find a way to honor other Gold Star families. The term refers to those who have lost a loved one in active duty military service.

Alexis was a week shy of 12 years old at the time of her father’s death. At age 51, Col. McCullough had served in the military for more than 30 years, including four tours in Iraq, and earned two Bronze Star Medals and numerous commendations for his Army service.

Left with the lingering feeling that she was never able to say goodbye, Alexis has sought to do things she feels would make her dad proud.

“If you feel alone, this place is meant for you,” she said of the future monument. “It’s a sanctuary for all of those people — Gold Star family members, but also the Gold Star friends.”

A Scout must complete a project demonstrating leadership and benefiting the community by the time they turn 18 to advance from the rank of Life Scout to Eagle Scout, something only a small percentage of Scouts achieve.

Local Scout leaders have said McCullough’s project is the most ambitious they’ve seen in the area.

The total cost of the monument is about $120,000.

After over a year of planning and promoting — including contributing $5,000 of her own money to start, pitching her project to nearly every organization and government body in the area, and hosting several fundraisers — McCullough was finally able to order the monument’s materials. She held a groundbreaking ceremony in October on her 17th birthday.

Working with the village of Bourbonnais and PSI Construction, McCullough said she has made it past the design phase and is encroaching on the final fundraising stages of $10,000 to $13,000.

The memorial’s designs have been submitted, and the monument is being etched.

“We’re really in the home stretch,” she said.

The estimated date for the dedication ceremony is April 26.

For her tireless efforts and determination to honor Gold Star families and bring awareness to the services and support available to them, McCullough has been named the Daily Journal’s 2024 Young Citizen of the Year.

MUSICAL ASPIRATIONS

As a fourth grader, McCullough attended an event where children were encouraged to try out different instruments.

She picked up a clarinet, and that was when she got her first taste of encouragement to play music.

“I don’t think I probably sounded that good, but they told me, ‘Wow, you’re amazing, you’re the first person to be able to make a sound on it,’” she recalled. “Looking back, maybe they were fibbing a little bit, but fourth-grade me took it and I ran with it.”

Ever since then, she has challenged herself to learn a new instrument every year.

“That has definitely played a role in not only my passion for music, but also my capability to grow as a musician,” she said.

The growing roster of instruments that she’s played or taken lessons in includes clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone (alto, tenor and baritone), trumpet, bugle, snare drum, marimba, guitar, bass guitar and piano.

She’s also sung both alto and tenor as part of her school’s choir.

“Once I got into high school, I started meeting people who were also passionate about music,” she said.

Brass Monkeys, the funk band she formed with her friends, fizzled out after some of its members graduated, but McCullough’s musical aspirations remain.

She is considering a career in music education or music entrepreneurship and management. She also dreams of being a music performer or part of a stage crew for a band.

“Being able to bring out that spark in other people is what really fills my heart,” she said.

OUTLOOK ON LIFE

Some of the lessons McCullough learned playing music with others included getting out of her own head and saving the “drama” for theater.

“If you’re always in your head, or you’re thinking about another person, then you’re not thinking about yourself, your balance, your blend, your music — then the whole thing just falls apart,” she offered.

Now as an upperclassman and a band section leader, she plays with confidence and encourages younger players to come out of their shells.

McCullough wouldn’t call herself “bossy,” but she feels she’s always been good at advising others.

“I find joy in helping other people do their best,” she said. “Not only that, but I just want the best for the group as a whole. [In band,] I always wanted to be someone that others could look up to. I strived for that.”

Some of McCullough’s classmates nominated her for the Natural Helpers program, a leadership day camp for students whom others say are trustworthy and helpful.

“It kind of struck me,” she said. “In my mind, I’m simply just existing. I know that I help people, and I know that I am always a person that will try to give my advice or assist somebody, but I didn’t necessarily think that when somebody was given a question of who would I trust, someone would say, ‘I trust Lex.’”

She had a powerful experience at the leadership camp when encountering a student whom she used to argue with in middle school. The student’s peers clearly thought of him as a helper, so McCullough knew there had to be more to his story than she realized. They both walked away from the camp with better understandings of each other.

“You can both go through stuff that makes life tough,” she reflected. “… That doesn’t make you a bad person.”

DRIVEN TO SUCCEED

McCullough describes herself as driven and competitive.

“One slightly negative but very useful part of my personality is — I don’t like it when people tell me I can’t do something,” she reflected.

“If somebody tells me I can’t be on the wrestling team, I’m on the wrestling team,” she said. “If somebody tells me I can’t be first chair clarinet [player], I will be first chair clarinet. If you told me I can’t raise a bunch of money and build a monument, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

While no one discouraged her from her ambitious Eagle Scout project, she still felt that competitive fire sparked within her.

“I was told it’s not regular for a girl to get Eagle Scout, that doesn’t really happen,” she said.

However, McCullough said she doesn’t let stereotypes bother her.

“You’re not gonna tell me what I’m not gonna do,” she said. “I’m gonna get Eagle Scout, and I’m gonna do it in the coolest way possible.”

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