Tecumseh High School sends off Class of 2026
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
By DAVID PANIAN
TECUMSEH — After words of wisdom were shared, music was performed and diplomas were presented, Tecumseh High School’s Class of 2026 turned their tassels and departed Indian Stadium to begin the next chapter in their lives.
Under a robin’s egg blue sky streaked with high cirrus clouds, 219 students crossed the stage May 21 as family and friends applauded and cheered.
In her welcome message, graduate Aubrie Lidster told her classmates they should be proud, “not just for the diploma you will receive, but for how you made it through these past four years and for who you became along the way.”
She thanked the guests for guiding the graduates through moments they couldn’t handle alone.
“Your patience and belief in us will always forever make more of a difference than you may know,” she said.
Valedictorian Tucker Cole used a reading theme to encourage his classmates as they look toward the future.
“Throughout my senior year, I’ve read novels from the 1500s up until today, and in every single book, no matter the time period, conditions or genre it was written in, a common theme emerged that made me reflect on how I want to live my life: Change is the raw material for growth,” he said.
He asked everyone to envision themselves as a character in a story. There is a great change underway for everyone in the class, he said.
“Use this opportunity, this moment of great change to your advantage. Allow the character in your story to dream the biggest dreams, strive for goals they once thought were out of reach, and attempt the seemingly impossible,” he said. “Although I know that failure, new places and leaving behind everything you built here is scary, you never know. Maybe this next chapter you’re so afraid of is going to be your favorite.”
Cole will attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, to study animal science.
Salutatorian Olivia Swirple compared life to baking, where some people will follow a recipe meticulously while others can throw ingredients together and they turn into something delicious.
“People always talk about the recipe for success, like there’s a perfect set of instructions we’re all supposed to follow,” she said. “But the truth is, there isn’t one.”
Early in life, she said, their parents and families guided them through their first steps, “measuring out the things for us before we even knew what we were making.”
“High school is where the recipe really changes. It’s like adding a whole new layer,” she said. “You know what you’re trying to create, but the instructions suddenly become a lot less clear.”
High school is also where they have real choices to make, in classes, activities, friends and how to spend their time.
“We’ve all made choices we’ve questioned later. We’ve all had times where it felt like we were completely messing everything up,” she said. “But here’s what I’ve learned: Messing up one part of a step doesn’t ruin an entire recipe. It means you adjust, you learn and you keep on going.”
She urged her classmates to not focus solely on the outcome of the recipe.
“We focus so much on the final result that we actually forget about the joy of making it,” she said. “But the truth is you also don’t know how things will end, so you need to enjoy the process of getting there.”
Swirple will attend the University of Michigan and study biopsychology and neuroscience.
Superintendent Matt Hilton gave the graduates the following advice:
• Fail fast and fail often: Failure is the best kind of curriculum because it’s the kind you’ll never forget.
• Be you: They’ll meet people who seem to have a plan. “Don’t fall for it,” he said. “Nobody has it figured out.”
• Resist the temptation to follow anyone else’s definition of success.
• Don’t set out just to make a living, set out to find your passion and purpose in life. “Wake up with something to give, not just something to get,” he said.
Class of 2026 notes
Class motto: Nothing will change unless you do.
Class color: Sunset orange.
Class flower: Orange marigolds.
Class song: “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac.
Class advisers: Jennifer Morgan and Jami Cole.
Graduates enlisting in the armed forces: Nolan Berger and Lucas Emrick, Marine Corps; Brison Altman, Lamar Longabaugh and Joseph Thomas, Army; Eleis Mauricio, Air National Guard; Loris DeFore, Merchant Marine Academy.
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