COLONY — Watch out world.
If there were any questions about the quality of students coming out of the Crest School District, they were answered with a thunderous roar Saturday.
The Crest High School Class of 2026 graduated 23 seniors, 16 of whom did so with honor cords draped across their shoulders, indicative of their academic prowess.
But classroom success told only part of the story. Ten of the 23 also were National Honor Society inductees, which on top of grades also stresses service, leadership and character.
And as school counselor Melanie Greve and CHS Principal Travis Hermreck rattled off the list of scholarships and honors the graduating seniors received, it became evident just how primed the outgoing seniors are to take on the world.
Kinley Edgerton, class valedictorian, said Graduation Day prompted some self-reflection.
“As with many things, as school started winding down, I kept asking myself, “Who am I now?’” she said.
For a long time, it was relatively easy to find an answer, she said. “We became athletes, performers, students and leaders.”
She and her classmates built their days around classes, practices, rehearsals, games, etc.
“At the time, it feels like that’s normal life,” Edgerton said. “And so suddenly, everything starts to slow down.”
Which again begged the question: “Who am I without all this?”
Then came her epiphany.
Those elements “were just pieces of our experience,” she said, “not the whole picture of who we are.”
She lauded parents, teachers and others for “sacrifices we didn’t always notice, and the love that never stopped, no matter what. You believed in us on the days we didn’t believe in ourselves.
“We are not defined by the activities we were a part of, or the titles we held. They’re just chapters of much bigger stories. And whatever comes next, trust me, even if you don’t know the answer to ‘Who am I now?’ You are still becoming exactly who you’re meant to be.”
THE AWARDS section included scholarships the outgoing seniors will receive to pursue college or trade school.
