Edmonds Heights celebrates Class of 2026 with messages of perseverance, joy and community

Edmonds Heights K-12 celebrated its 2026 graduating class Friday with a ceremony that blended original music, deeply personal student reflections, reminders that both good and hard times are temporary, and that community endures. The program — the first of several Edmonds School District 2026 high school graduation ceremonies in the next week — highlighted the school’s unique educational model built on direct parent involvement and partnership in their children’s learning. 

Forty‑nine seniors received diplomas in front of an estimated 500 parents, teachers and friends who packed the school gym for the event. Among the graduates were three who have attended Edmonds Heights since kindergarten.

“We have a full program, and we want to make sure that our students are here for every benefit,” Principal Casey Campbell told families as the ceremony opened. “What an accomplishment to get to graduation – a time when you can pause to celebrate the hard work that you’ve achieved to get here, while at the same time enjoying the excitement of everything that lies ahead, and doing it together.”

District dignitaries in attendance included Superintendent Rebecca Miner, Assistant Superintendent Greg Schwab, Director of Student Services John Bell, and School Board members Hawk Cramer and Thom Garrard.

Campbell, who is completing his first year as principal at Edmonds Heights, called the class “a remarkable group of young adults,” saying he has been especially struck by how they treat one another.

“You consistently demonstrate kindness, honesty, and respect, and you all clearly value people,” he said. “As we know, self‑esteem is rooted in how we treat others, and I’m encouraged that you are leaving here with self‑esteem.”

In an interview after the ceremony, Campbell said he felt a mixture of “relief and profound gratitude” after his first high school commencement at Edmonds Heights, calling the experience “really special.” He described the school as a true “parent partnership,” where families are the primary educators and work with staff to craft individualized written learning plans that blend on-campus and at-home instruction. Campbell added that while classroom teaching is visible, it’s the “unseen” advising work by teachers that makes the program function and helps uplift the shared values of families and the school. 

‘Don’t get stuck in the hard times’

Assistant Superintendent Greg Schwab used his remarks to offer a single piece of advice that he said he still carries from his own high school years.

“No matter how good things are or how tough things are, remember that it will always pass,” Schwab told the graduates.

“When life is difficult, when you’re facing setbacks, disappointments, uncertainty or challenges you didn’t see coming, remember those moments will not last forever,” he said. “Keep moving forward. Take the next step, and then the next one after that.”

At the same time, Schwab urged students not to freeze in their successes.

“So if I can leave you, the class of 2026, with just one piece of advice, it would be this,” he said. “Don’t get stuck in the hard times, don’t get too comfortable in the good times. Both will pass. Keep learning, keep growing, keep moving forward.”

Six seniors reflect on fear, identity and the ‘village’

Six student speakers offered reflections that ranged from humorous and vulnerable to sharply focused on equity, education and identity.

Abby Acheson described working at a senior living facility as the youngest employee, and how constant reminders to “enjoy being young” fed her inner fear of growing up.

“Going into senior year, I was not looking forward to graduating,” she admitted. “I didn’t want my life to change, and the idea of becoming an adult was scary to me.”

She said programs like Edmonds Heights theater and summer camps helped her see that growing up doesn’t mean losing joy.

“Just because we’re starting this next chapter of our lives does not mean that we have to lose any of that joy,” she said. “We can still have fun, still play and be ourselves – just with the added bonuses of having our own money and more opportunities.”

Aly Gustavson focused on identity, gratitude and the power of relationships, beginning with an emotional thank you to her father.

“Even though I push back against a lot of what he says, and even though I don’t always listen, he has pushed me harder and further in my goals than anyone else,” she said. “He has helped me push past the hardest parts of my life and helped me come out stronger for it. But most of all, he has pushed me to be myself.”

Gustavson said finding one’s true self is “a journey, and it’s one that we all go through,” often shaped by others.

“The most powerful thing in life is human connection,” she told classmates. “Every experience has value, every memory holds weight in our hearts and in our minds for the rest of our lives.”

Tatiana Lindberg, who has attended Edmonds Heights for 10 years and will enter the University of Washington as a Gates Scholar, spoke about learning, integrity and the challenges of education in the age of artificial intelligence.

“We are faced with the contradiction of maintaining academic integrity in a time when AI use is fast becoming unavoidable,” she said, adding that technology can “give us the opportunity to find answers, while robbing us of the opportunity to truly learn.”

Quoting Plato’s Apology – “For I was conscious that I knew practically nothing” – Lindberg said Edmonds Heights taught her that “it is more important to have the privilege of learning than to think I know it all.”

Access to education, she added, has become her passion: “Access to education shapes our future, and thanks to being awarded the Gates Scholarship, I have access to my future and to my education, and this has prompted me to take on the personal goal of working to ensure that education is more adequately funded on a national level,” she said.

Issabella (Bella) Conroy, who has been on campus from a young age — following older siblings — framed the speech around the idea that “it takes a village.”

“I spent 17 of my 18 years at this school,” Conroy said. “People don’t just go to school here, they can also grow up here.”

Conroy recalled shadowing older siblings, nervous years in the classroom and finally returning as a mentor in teacher Maggie Dailey’s room.

“Moments like that are what make up a village,” Conroy said. “Sometimes it’s a teacher who believes in you before you believe in yourself. Sometimes it’s a friend who encourages you to keep going. And sometimes it’s realizing you’ve become the person you once looked up to.”

Sloane Duncan shared a painful elementary‑school memory – failing a spelling test and being accused by a teacher of doing it on purpose – that left him believing for years that he was “a bad student.”

“For a really long time, I never thought I could go to college or even graduate high school,” he said.

That changed at Edmonds Heights.

“I found a place where I was wanted, needed and where people recognized that I had talents and skills,” Duncan said. “No teacher here has ever treated me like an idiot or like I was being a lazy student.”

He went on to become a robotics co‑captain, ASB leader and member of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee. This fall he will attend the University of Victoria.

“I have finally recognized I’m actually a smart person and capable of learning,” he said. “That is something I never thought would happen.”

Evangeline Carballo traced her journey from a “scared little kid with little confidence” to a theater leader and aspiring STEM professional.

“Over time, theater became a place where I could run,” she said, noting she has been part of more than 45 shows and eventually served as co‑president of Edmonds Heights’ thespian troupe.

As the daughter of an immigrant, Carballo said she carries her father’s sacrifices with her into a field where “Latina women are often underrepresented.” Through the Latino Leadership Initiative at Edmonds College, she worked on projects supporting undocumented students and helped start a Latino club.

“Real change doesn’t happen in big moments,” she said. “It happens through actions like these – you’re listening, you’re learning, you’re standing up for others.”

To her classmates, she offered this reminder: “When you face challenges, remember that you are stronger than you think… and when things feel uncertain, remember, Sí se puede – yes, it can be done.”

‘You get to be choosy’ about the world’s messages

In his closing remarks, Principal Campbell urged graduates to be selective about advice and expectations they will encounter beyond Edmonds Heights, including cultural pressure to “follow your passion” and to meet arbitrary timelines.

“These messages are not bad by design,” he said, “but remember that they are not the final word.”

He recounted his own conversations with a mentor who helped him reframe that pressure.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to simplify it… just do what energizes you,’” Campbell told students. “So don’t let the messages of the world just come as they are, and don’t let them mess you up. Use your head and adapt the messages to guide your authentic path. You get to discern and you get to be choosy.”

Campbell added that Edmonds Heights’ students – educated in a model that depends on close parent partnership and family engagement in coursework, projects and daily school life – are well prepared to do exactly that.

“This is going to come naturally to you,” he said. “Edmonds Heights students are already independent thinkers, highly mature, discerning individuals. You don’t even need this whole speech. You’ll do great.”

The ceremony also recognized students’ achievements in theater, robotics and martial arts, with honor cords signifying hundreds of hours on stage and behind the scenes, competitive engineering work, and black belt‑level discipline. Graduates’ plans ranged from music, psychology and education to marine biology, engineering, business, trades and public service.

As the evening closed with a senior video and the ensemble performance of For Good from Wicked, the theme that echoed through the gym matched the lyrics sung on stage: that the people of Edmonds Heights – parents, staff and fellow students – have “changed them for good.”