HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP – Members of the Lakeside High School Class of 2026 have made more than just their loved ones proud.
“The Class of 2026 has made Lakeside High School a place of tremendous achievement, and a source of great pride within the community,” LHS Principal Doug Wetherholt said, as he welcomed everyone to the 25th commencement ceremony of Lakeside High School on Thursday, May 28.
For the second year in a row, graduates walked across a stage not at their own high school, but at SPIRE, in a neighboring school district, owing to the roof collapse of the Lakeside building after the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm.
Wetherholt told the seniors – soon-to-be graduates – that the evening was an exciting and momentous occasion.
“Today we’re here to honor your achievements, and celebrate your accomplishments,” Wetherholt said.
Wetherholt told the seniors that their future belongs to them.
“No one else controls it. No one else decides what your life will become,” Wetherholt said. “You have the power to choose your direction, your attitude, your effort and your response to adversity. The decisions you make from this day forward will shape your opportunities you create for yourselves.”
Also speaking was Superintendent Lisa McQuoid-Newsome, who asked the seniors to stand up and give a round of applause for the people sitting in the audience and to the teachers and staff.
McQuoid-Newsome said she wasn’t going to talk about the actual details of the roof collapse, but instead, what that has done to transform this graduating class, as it moved to other buildings for its lessons.
“This year continued to interrupt your routines, create uncertainty and tested your patience in was you never imagined,” McQuoid-Newsome said. “We continued to not have the spaces that held memories, traditions and comfort. We didn’t have the feeling of a normal high school.”
But sometimes, the strongest lessons come from the moments they never would have chosen for themselves, she said.
“Difficult moments do not define us. Our response to them does,” McQuoid-Newsome said. “This school year, the academic wing may have been demolished, but the spirit of Lakeside High School is still here, and it’s Lakeside Strong.”
She said the Class of 2026 continued to show up, continued to work and continued to dream, showing resilience and perseverance.
“You were capable of rebuilding. You were capable of adapting. You are capable of leading through uncertainty, and you are capable of finding hope when circumstances seemed impossible. Every challenge carries the opportunity to grow stronger, wiser and more compassionate,” McQuoid-Newsome said.
The commencement ceremony also included Class of 2026 President Sadie Drozd announcing the senior class gift, a picture of the Class of 2026 with leftover bricks from Lakeside’s demolished academic wing bordering its glass frame.
The gift will go in the rebuilt LHS.
Drozd and Jayden Hernandez ’24 then sang “For Good” from the musical Wicked.
Valedictorian Miranda Calabris and Salutatorian Heyzel Garay Montelongo also spoke.
Calabris gave a speech titled “Perseverance.”
“While we may not be graduating from our own building on this significant day, and have witnessed unfortunate circumstances in our own or shared ways, we have all worked through all types of changes and challenges, permitting us to deserve this ceremony nonetheless,” Calabris said.
Garay Montelongo gave a speech titled “Change.”
“Since the moment we started high school, we heard people saying how fast it would go by, not knowing that we would realize the truth in that statement once it started passing by faster than we thought,” Garay Montelongo said.
Also speaking was AACS Board of Education President Scott Yopp, who offered congratulations to the Class of 2026 on behalf of the board.
Last to speak was Melissa Stewart, a faculty member chosen by the students to speak.
She gave a speech titled “Sí, se puede” – or “Yes, you can,” in English.
“Class of 2026 – ‘Sí, se puede.’ You have weathered a pandemic, distance learning, a roof collapse, more distance learning, loss of our home at 6600 Sanborn Rd., and a high-school experience that was very different from the norm,” Stewart said. “And you did it all with a smile on your face – most of the time. You learned how to overcome difficulties, embrace changes and make memories, despite these challenges.”
