News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Alcona High School and Early Middle College graduate Rilee Tracy enters the graduation ceremony at the Alcona Community Schools Auditorium on Friday.

LINCOLN — Graduates of Alcona High School and their families and friends gathered to celebrate the completion of their high school careers on Friday.

There were 63 candidates for graduation in the class of 2026. The class chose navy blue as their class color, a tiger lily as their class flower, and “Congratulations” by Post Malone as their class song.

At the start of the ceremony, the graduates walked in one by one as the Alcona Schools band played “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Once the graduates were seated, Superintendent Dan O’Connor welcomed all to the ceremony and gave a few pieces of advice to the graduates.

“Remember to love and cherish every movement and chase every dream and never settle for anything less than what you deserve in your life,” he said.

He told the graduates to have “gumption.”

“Which means initiative, aggressiveness, resourcefulness, courage, spunk, and guts,” O’Connor said.

Alcona Middle and High School Principal Mary Morris took the podium to say a few words.

“In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy learned she cannot make the journey alone,” Morris said. “She gathered companions along the way. The scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion. Each believed they lacked something important. But the truth was, they possessed those qualities all along. Class of 2026, I hope you remember that lesson.”

Morris introduced Valedictorian Emma Schroeder, who spoke about the uniqueness of being an Alcona High School graduate.

“Whenever someone asks me where I’m from and I tell them it’s always met with a blank stare and a follow up question of ‘where the heck is that?’ Schroeder said. “But no matter how many times I have to hold up my hand and say, ‘It’s right here in the middle of nowhere,’ I never get tired of it. I believe that there is a special kind of magic found in the lands and the woods here in Alcona. I see it in the glow of the sunset over the harbor and the dilapidated barns that litter the countryside here in our special little part of the world. But most important, I see it in all of you.”

The next speaker was Salutatorian Cole Upper, who tossed a bit of humor into his speech.

“Congratulations!” he said. “We made it through the easiest part of life. We did have to go through many challenges though. COVID, six-seven, and losing Grammarly on our Chromebooks this last month right when we had important assignments due.”

“I enjoyed these past years with all of you and I hope you all have a great future and find your own success,” Upper concluded.

Class President Nyhia Jackson rounded up the student addresses.

“As we leave this chapter behind, I hope you remember that life is not about being perfect,” Jackson said. “It’s about learning, improving, and continuing forward, even when things don’t go as well. Mistakes will happen but they do not make us failures at the end of the season. The important thing is that we keep growing from them instead of letting them hold us back.”

Two more addresses were given by Academic Counselor Megan VanKoningsveld and Early College Coordinator Helen-Ann Cordes before the presentation of diplomas.

The graduates lined up to walk across the stage before finally receiving the diploma they had been working for their whole life.

At the end of the ceremony, they exited the auditorium to cheers as the band played “Jupiter” by Mark Williams.

Reagan Voetberg. News Staff Writer. rvoetberg@thealpenanews.com.