News Photo by Reagan Voetberg McKenzy McVannel enters the Alpena High School Class of 2026 graduation ceremony on Sunday.

ALPENA — The camaraderie and spirit of the Alpena High School Class of 2026 could be felt as they gathered together one last time for their graduation ceremony on Sunday.

The graduates entered Wildcat Stadium in pairs to the classic tune “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Once the graduates were seated, AHS Principal Romeo Bourdage welcomed friends, family, and the graduates to the ceremony.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by four military bound graduates: Gavin Chapman, Kyle Krueger, Wyatt Ostrander, and Cayden Wekwert.

Graduate Taylor Widajewski sang “The Star Spangled Banner” following the pledge.

Next the senior video played, highlighting all the best moments from the Class of 2026’s final year of high school, including winning the Spirit Jug four times during homecoming and winter fest their junior and senior years.

The AHS Concert Choir sang “Somewhere Only We Know” prior to the student speakers making their speeches.

Keira Paad and Liam Kieliszewski spoke on behalf of the graduating class.

“Today’s the day, the day we talked about for years thinking it would never actually arrive,” Paad said. “Honestly, I think some of us were convinced graduation was just a rumor teachers made up to keep us motivated.

Paad said if she could describe the Class of 2026 in one word, it would be ‘resilient’, for surviving the COVID pandemic, two ice storms, and major flooding.

“We went from crowded classrooms and Friday night games, to staring at screens and pretending our cameras were broken during online classes,” Paad said.

“I’ve heard many people say they’ve never seen a class as connected as ours, and I think that’s something to be proud of,” she said.

To end her speech, Paad invited Kieliszewski, who came running up to the podium, to say the last line.

“It’s like Troy Bolton once said, ‘Once a wildcat, always a wildcat!'” Paad and Kieliszewski shouted.

Kieliszewski then started his address by thanking his family and his sister in particular for getting his cap decorated an hour before the start of the ceremony.

He talked about the positive impact that the Senior Assassin game had on the community. During the game, seniors used water guns to get each other out of the game but if they wore swim floaties they were marked safe.

“I think what we need to remember most about it was the noticeably positive impact on our community,” Kieliszewski said. “One of the first weekends after the flooding back in mid-April an older lady noticed my shark floatie around my waist and asked, ‘is the water really that high at your house?’ Ironically it was a squirt gun game that brought dozens of smiles and great memories, not just between our class but our entire community.”

Kieliszewski offered some advice to the graduates.

“The happiest people that I know are driven in the long term but live in the short term, day by day and moment by moment,” he said.

Kieliszewski ended his address with a ‘Go Cats’ and faculty representative speaker Phil Cook took the podium for his speech.

Cook was unanimously chosen by the Class of 2026 to be the staff speaker at their graduation ceremony. He is the AP Language, speech, and debate teacher at the high school.

“Of all the graduation ceremonies occurring around Michigan today, I’m proud to stand up in front of the most talented, intelligent, and best looking graduates of all,” Cook said.

His speech highlighted the importance of real-life relationships, demonstrating that by throwing not one, not two, but three smartphones behind him into the turf to emphasize the point at different moments in the speech..

“Every time you put down your phone and turn your face to real life is a victory,” Cook said.

“What’s the biggest distractor in your life today?” he said. “Cell phones, scrolling. Scrolling kills your joy. You’re watching someone else’s highlight reel, which is probably fake. You’re taking in rage bait and lies, you’re wasting time. Then your brain doesn’t work very well, instead your brain thrives on real flesh and blood smiles of loved ones, so value your relationships.”

At the conclusion of Cook’s address, Bourdage, Alpena Public Schools Superintendent Dave Rabbideau, and APS Board of Education President Eric Lawson performed the formalities of presenting the graduates before they walked the stage to receive their diplomas.

The Class of 2026 chose mossy green, powder blue, and sunset orange as their class colors.

They chose a light purple lilac as their class flower, “You’re Gonna Go Far” by Noah Kahan as their class song, and “You can fail at what you don’t want so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” said by Jim Carrey as their class quote.

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