Lowell High School Celebrates the Class of 2026
Students throw their caps in the air. Photo - LHS Junior Taryn Genovich.
LOWELL, Mich. - The winds whipped across Bob Perry Field on Thursday night as the sun broke through for Lowell High School’s Class of 2026 commencement ceremony.
The ceremony began at 6:00 p.m. on May 21, with families, staff members, and community members gathering to celebrate the newest group of Lowell graduates. The wind made the annual tradition of beach balls being snuck in, blown up, and tossed around a bit more difficult than usual, but with the rain holding off, the evening remained a celebration.
The graduating class included 269 students on the Class of 2026 graduation list, though not all walked across the stage. The total included Lowell High School students, exchange students, and students from Unity High School.
For the Class of 2026, the evening marked the close of one chapter and the beginning of another.
Honoring a Lost Classmate
Photo from LHS Sophomore Bryce Craycraft
Kate McDonald’s seat at Graduation was in the front row with what would have been her gown, photo, and orange flowers.
Among the graduates Thursday night, one seat carried special meaning.
It belonged to Kate McDonald, a member of the Class of 2026 whose life was lost in seventh grade after she experienced bullying. Her absence has remained deeply felt by her classmates, who remembered her as kind, caring, and deeply loved.
Kate’s memory was honored throughout the ceremony in quiet but meaningful ways. Her favorite color, orange, appeared on pins worn by members of the class and in flowers placed on her seat. The phrase “kindness always to everyone” served as a reminder of the impact she left on the Class of 2026 and the message her classmates continue to carry forward.
The Speeches
Salutatorian Thomas Judge opened his speech by thanking the staff members, families, and supporters who helped the class reach graduation day. He gave special recognition to Mr. and Mrs. Phil and Christine Beachler, noting their combined decades of service to Lowell Area Schools who will be retiring this year.
“He has served 40 years, and she has served 37 years here at Lowell,” Judge said. “To give you an idea of how long that is, they have worked here longer than the high school building has existed, not to make them feel old or anything.”
Judge also encouraged his classmates to stay connected with the people who supported them throughout high school. While their next steps may take them in different directions, he said those relationships will remain important.
“By staying close and keeping in touch with those who impacted you through this journey, you will be that much more prepared for your next,” Judge said. “You will be ready to inspire and influence the world just as your support system has done for you.”
Valedictorian Jarrett Smith also spoke about the people who helped the graduates reach the moment, thanking parents, family members, faculty, friends, and community members for their support.
“Thank you for believing in us,” Smith said. “We felt your love and support throughout high school.”
Smith reflected on moving to Lowell before his freshman year and how a book introduced to him at a wrestling camp, Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf, shaped his view of success. The book’s message, he said, was about doing the little things well and falling in love with the process of becoming great.
“In wrestling, it is vital to practice things perfectly,” Smith said. “You practice these little things as well as you can thousands of times.”
Smith connected that lesson to the daily work his classmates completed throughout high school.
“You might not realize it, but throughout high school, you chopped wood and carried water,” Smith said. “You did your daily math homework, even when you didn’t want to. You showed integrity and did the right thing, even when no one was watching.”
He encouraged the Class of 2026 to continue approaching life with that same mindset.
“There is no dream too high and anything can be accomplished,” Smith said. “But there is also no task too small and every detail of everyday culminates to create who you are as a person.”
Smith also looked back on the class’s shared memories, including Lowell’s wrestling success, Pink Arrow, the football game against Zeeland West, and the student-staff basketball game. He said the major moments would be remembered, but so would the smaller daily memories that made high school meaningful.
“Whether it's the daily walk into school with a best friend, hearing Warf (AP U.S. History teacher Clay VanderWarf) yell down the hallway as you’re taking a test, or small talk with someone you might barely know, these little instances are what made high school memorable,” Smith said.
Faith Chipman’s speech took a different approach, blending humor, reflection, and a challenge to her classmates to embrace uncertainty. She began by thanking educators, parents, and fellow graduates, while specifically recognizing Lowell’s librarians, history department, and English department, including Mrs. Mooney, Mrs. Swift, and Mr. Larson.
Chipman joked that while preparing her speech, she opened ChatGPT and typed, “write me a senior commencement speech.” The result, she said, was “fine,” but also “banal and riddled with cliches.”
“But I do think a part of me was lost staring at that slop,” Chipman said. “A certain motivation to actually write the speech I’m reading right now drifted away.”
Chipman used that moment to reflect on humanity, imperfection, and the value of original thought. Quoting poet Ada Limón, she reminded her classmates, “Look, we are not unspectacular things.”
“So why do we need to use AI to write our essays, our poems, and do our assignments?” Chipman said. “We use it to help, right? To perfect our work and our words. But why? When imperfection is the beauty of humanity.”
Chipman encouraged graduates not to run from the unknown, but to embrace it. She said life will not always go according to plan, and that some of the most important moments will come from failure, reflection, and uncertainty.
“Don’t stop learning just because you’ve graduated,” Chipman said. “Learn from your failures, missed opportunities, and mistakes.”
She ended by returning to the message that some lessons cannot be generated by a computer.
“For that’s something you can’t type into ChatGPT,” Chipman said.
Class of 2026 by the Numbers
Molly Lincolnhol is one of the twenty-eight students going out of state for college. She’s off to Wisconsin’s Carroll University. Photo - Lauryn Scott.
The Class of 2026 leaves Lowell High School with a long list of academic accomplishments and future plans which was noted by Tory Parsons of the LHS Counseling Office.
Students in the graduating class completed a combined 760 Advanced Placement courses during their time at Lowell High School, an average of roughly three AP courses per student. The school also recently honored about 120 members of the class as cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude graduates.
After graduation, 78% of the class plans to continue on to college, including 27% who plan to attend community college. Twenty-eight graduates are heading out of state for college to schools like Montana State (Emmett Schaedig), Oregon (Jack Hughes), Bradley (Calli Rottier), and Florida Atlantic (Mason Rose, Morgan Diekevers, McGuire Carpenter).
Many others will continue their education at schools across Michigan, including Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, Ferris State University, Central Michigan University, Calvin University, Aquinas College, Alma College, Northern Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University, the University of Michigan, Kalamazoo College, Cornerstone University, Davenport University, and Lawrence Technological University.
Other graduates are taking different paths after high school. Six students plan to attend trade school, two plan to serve in the United States military, two are heading to an academy, and 46 members of the class plan to enter the workforce.
“After hearing all that, there should be no doubt in your mind that this class is ready and prepared to succeed in the future,” Judge said. “Today, we turn a new page into the real world, but we will be ready.”
Class Color - Pink
Class Flower - Lily
Class Song - Mr. Brightside
Class Motto - “People change, things go wrong, just remember life goes on.” - Mac Miller
Class Advisors - Ashley Velzen and Kim Perry
A Final Walk Across the Stage
Izzy Cook is off to GRCC where she will continue to play soccer as well.
The band played music from “Homeward Bound” alongside the choir where each graduate got to have their “one last song”. “Pomp and Circumstance” was played. The speeches and formal remarks from Principal Dominic Lowe and Superintendent Nate Fowler were concluded. Now it was time and graduates crossed the stage one by one to receive their diplomas and be recognized by the school and community in a ceremony lasting about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Jackson Abbott served as the first member with Kayleigh Young as the last not counting Gigi Duprey, the class president, who by tradition gets their diploma last. Duprey announced the names of her fellow graduates including some quite tricky ones.
Special moments included Fabio Gurgel, an exchange student from Brazil. His family flew in all the way from Brazil to watch the ceremony. JD Huyser, a standout lacrosse player, did a backflip (a smart choice in not wearing dress shoes). Sons and daughters of LAS employees would hug their parents at the end of their walk, Of course, the announcements of the future members of the Military and Summa Cum Laude graduates prior to the ceremony is always emotional.
Red Arrows for Life
Max Davidson shakes hands with LHS Principal Dominic Lowe. Photo by LHS junior Pyper Gordon.
Graduation was both a goodbye and a beginning for the Class of 2026. The ceremony ended with the passing of the spade from the 2026 class president Gigi Duprey. Other officers of the class include vice president Gracen Simmons, secretary Anika Huhn, and public relations Sophie Liley.
Smith closed his speech with a lyric from Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” a song he said captured the emotions of graduating high school.
“It's something unpredictable, but in the end, it's right,” Smith said. “I hope you had the time of your life.”
For the Lowell High School Class of 2026, the night marked the end of high school, but not the end of the connections, lessons, and memories built along the way.
