The Hornell High School Class of 2026 will be remembered for its perseverance, leadership and commitment to excellence, cheering family and friends were told at the school’s 145th annual commencement exercises Friday, June 26 at Maple City Park.
Diplomas were awarded to the 105-member class at the school’s first outdoor commencement ceremony in four years.
Graduates were presented with nearly $300,000 in scholarship awards.
High School principal Morgan Allison called the graduating seniors “a truly exceptional” group that has grown into a class defined by perseverance, leadership and a commitment to excellence.
“They have challenged themselves academically, they have contributed to our school and to our community, and they have supported one another through their successes and their setbacks,” Allison said.
About the Hornell High School Class of 2026
The class includes 25 Honor Grads, while 34 graduates received a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.
The 2026 senior class has 26 National Honor Society members, nine members of the New York State Business and Marketing Honor Society and 16 students in the National Technical Honor Society
Ten graduates have completed 30 credits or the equivalent of one full year of college credits through the Corning Community College ACE Program.
Three graduates are entering the U.S. Armed Forces.
“I watched them become a talented, determined and compassionate group of young adults,” Allison added about the Class of 2026.
“Their accomplishments are impressive, but their willingness to make a difference is what will leave a lasting impact.”
Scholarships, awards presented to Class of 2026
Graduates collected $286,775 in financial support, including more than $180,00 from the Hornell Alumni Association. The balance of the awards were presented by Hornell area scholarship programs.
Commencement speaker: Class of 2026 ‘built for this moment’
Melissa Herriot, founder of M. Herriot Designs and a 1998 Hornell High School graduate, gave the commencement address.
“You lived through a global pandemic during the most formative years of your life. This kind of makes me cry, honestly. You have never known a world without constant change,” Herriot told the graduates. “So let me tell you a secret. That makes you built for exactly this moment.”
Class valedictorian: ‘There are perfect moments’
Class valedictorian Nicholas Gray, co-salutatorians Ella Foreman and Davvyn Thompson, and student government president Marwa Salem delivered graduation remarks.
Gray began his speech by sharing his lifelong love of the New York Knicks basketball team which just won the NBA championship for the first time in 53 years. Gray quoted Knicks commentator Mike Breen who said the Knicks’ win proved that “Life is not perfect, but there are perfect moments.” Gray added that the statement “rings true far beyond basketball.”
“I can’t stand here and tell you that life is always going to be easy. It isn’t,” Gray said. “There may be moments when you lose hope − moments when the future seems uncertain. But hope is not the absence of struggle; it’s the decision to keep moving forward despite it. It’s believing that brighter days are ahead, even when you can’t yet see how you’ll get there.
“Because that’s what today proves: that perseverance matters, that light overcomes the shadows, and that the greatest victories often come after the hardest struggles.”
School Superintendent Jeremy Palotti presented diplomas to each graduate.
Hornell High School Graduation Choir performed the song, “Crowded Table.”
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This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Hornell Class of 2026 graduates 105 seniors with ‘perfect moments’
Reporting by Neal Simon, Hornell Evening Tribune / The Evening Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Neal Simon, Hornell Evening Tribune | USA TODAY Network
