With fireworks lighting the sky at the end, the Bradwell Institute class of 2026 left its high school days behind Friday night at Olvey Field/Hokey Jackson Stadium.
Bradwell Institute’s graduating class of 2026 was made up of 424 students who were awarded 108 scholarships worth a total of $528,500. There also were 77 technical certificates of credit earned by the class. BI also had 199 dual enrollment students who took 718 dual enrollment courses.
Students thanked their parents and their teachers for helping to get them to their big night.
“None of us reach this stage alone and tonight is as much a celebration of the graduates themselves as it the parents who guided us,” said Jorge Santa Cruz, the senior class president.
Santa Cruz referred to what he called one of his favorite works of fiction, “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” in giving advice to classmates.
“Sometimes you must follow your heart, even when others tell you not,” he said. “I would like to ask you all not to measure your success through the eyes of others but through the way you view your journey. Start recognizing your own brilliance and growth as you start this new chapter in life.”
Valedictorian Gia Williams thanked God for blessing her “in so many ways I can’t find the words to express how thankful I am.”
Williams said she was scared to admit her feelings on the end of her high school days and that the day after the academic awards program was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” “I’ve also been grieving, grieving the moments and friendships I’ll be leaving behind for this new, uncharted path,” she said. “There are many times I held back tears thinking about it. I was a little angry and embarrassed I didn’t allow myself to grieve my childhood. I am so grateful for the class of 2026 for helping me make memories that are worth crying over. There are some moments I am truly going to miss.”
Williams thanked her best friend and classmate Kyla Lawson, noting the two have been joined at the hip for the last five years and she also knows how to make her laugh, and her parents.
“I don’t know what I would possibly do without you guys,” Williams said to her parents. There are no words I could use to express how much I truly appreciate you and I couldn’t ask for better parents.”
In her salutatorian speech, Lisette Crawford said this essay was different from others she had penned at the last minute for class — she wasn’t getting graded on this. Crawford also paid tribute to her classmates, and her parents, for being there for her at Bradwell.
“Four long years of sleepless nights, stress about grades and general teenage foolery — you guys were there when I needed you the most,” she said. “I could not have asked for better parents in this life and I hope I continue to make you proud.”
Crawford also lauded the teachers she had at Bradwell, in particular family and consumer science teacher Kathryn Snelson.
“Teachers have played an important role in who I am. Learning means to grow under a mentor whose role is to push you to something better,” Crawford said. “Thank you to Kathryn Snelson. You have taken the time out of your life to pour into mine, and I will never forget that.”
Crawford also reminded her classmates that making it to graduation is worthy of celebration and should springboard them to what’s next.
“I hope you take this ceremony as a positive step into the rest of your life,” she said.