Friends and family gathered at Cherokee High School on June 18 to celebrate graduation for 460 students in the class of 2026.
Graduates proceeded to Chief Field and their assigned seats to the background music of the school’s marching band. Commencing the evening’s events was student representative McKenzie Brown, who encouraged her fellow classmates to cherish their milestone experiences at Cherokee and everyday classroom moments.
“When thinking about high school, we tend to think about the big moments,” she observed. “Football games, performances, competitions, and today, graduation. But I want all of you to take a moment to look around. Look at your fellow classmates, your peers, kids that you grew up with and friends that you’ve made along the way.”
“Four years ago, you walked through our doors in your orange Cherokee Pride shirts, a little nervous, maybe a little lost, and trying very hard not to show it,” shared Assistant Principal Shannon Bretz. “We said to you, ‘Welcome home.’ Tonight, as you prepare for the next chapter, I hope those two words finally make sense.
“As home isn’t necessarily a place as it is a feeling, a feeling of belonging, being seen, knowing that you matter.”
After diplomas were handed out to the cheers of an energetic crowd, students who once shared the jitters of
their first day at school as freshmen were now confident seniors.
Class president Ashley Karbiwnyk took to the microphone to deliver a final message to her Cherokee family.
“You’ve only got four years to make it what you will,” she noted. “We had our four years at Cherokee and we made it what it was. Cherokee has had a huge impact on us and it shaped who we are. And as the class of 2026, we are outliers and the future is on our side as we continue to persevere and thrive through uncertainty.
“Finally, now we have the rest of our lives to make them what we will.”
If the Cherokee High School class of 2026 is remembered for anything, it may be its community of leaders, achievers and tenacious spirits. As the tangerine sunset lent a glow to the ceremony, the graduates rose and turned their tassels to the left and their caps into the air.
