Class of 2026 rolls into its next chapter

Published 2:40 pm Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Pirate flags flew, cardboard faces bobbed above car windows and green-robed graduates rolled through uptown Saturday as Vashon celebrated the Class of 2026.

On the sunny, breezy afternoon, islanders lined the street with cheers, signs and camera phones — a noisy, joyful sendoff for the island’s newest young adults.

The annual graduation parade began with the Class of 2020, whose normal graduation festivities were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has remained a beloved island tradition ever since.

After the hoots and hollers from the uptown crowd, graduates made their way to the Vashon High School stadium for commencement.

The ceremony recognized 122 graduates, not including students enrolled through StudentLink. Dressed in green robes, graduates processed into the stadium to music from the VHS Wind Ensemble and McMurray eighth grade band students. The VHS Band also performed the national anthem.

Parents and families packed the bleachers, holding signs with graduates’ names and cheering as the ceremony began.

Jo Moccia, interim superintendent of Vashon Island School District, offered opening remarks.

“Today we celebrate not just diplomas but the resilience, curiosity and community spirit that brought this remarkable class to this moment,” Moccia said. “Congratulations, Class of 2026.”

Moccia also gave graduates a top 10 list of things to remember no matter where they go. Among them: Ferry schedules are more like suggestions, but trains usually run on time. Her No. 1 piece of advice was to “be kind to your brain because yours is still developing, you’ll need it the rest of your life.”

Class speaker Dziga Legry, elected by his peers to speak at commencement, addressed his classmates in a speech that compared each year of high school to a book. For senior year, he turned to “The Great Gatsby.”

“Like Gatsby’s desires, our own can be represented by the green light,” Legry said, calling it a symbol of ambition, whether for college, a career, the military or any future imagined from afar.

“Just as Gatsby stretched out his arms toward the dark water, we too reached out,” he said, pointing to the milestones of senior year — fewer guardrails, self-driven community service, full-fledged driver’s licenses, a first prom, beach bonfires and the finale of childhood.

“We’ve made it through to the other side successfully, maybe with our breath held at times,” Legry said. “And now we can exhale, proud of all we have accomplished.”

Also by student vote, the Class of 2026 selected Harper Howard, an 11th grade english teacher and 2014 Vashon High School graduate, as the faculty speaker.

Howard reflected on how much the class had changed since freshman year.

“I’m so impressed with the people you have become,” she said.

She ended her speech with the same words she wrote when she spoke at her own Vashon High School graduation in 2014.

“We are the generation that’s lost in a sea of electronic screens but that doesn’t mean we have to stay there,” Howard said, reading from her old speech.

“While at the time this may have felt a little dramatic, today the sentiment reads eerily true. I had no idea what was to come,” she continued. “ … I have hope for our shared future because you care deeply about the world, the planet, and about each other. You are artists, writers, poets, musicians, scientists, mathematicians, leaders and supportive friends. I believe you are just what the world needs right now.”

John Erickson, Vashon High School principal, continued the congratulations. Also onstage were Sabrina Kovacs, assistant principal; School Board Chair Juniper Rogneby; and School Board Vice Chair Martha Woodard, who helped present diplomas later in the ceremony.

In his remarks, Erickson spoke about the history of graduation traditions — caps, gowns and tassels — and asked students to consider themselves part of a long line of thinkers, builders, scientists, artists and leaders who had worn similar gowns before them.

But more than tradition, Erickson urged students to keep learning how to question, investigate, think, listen and grow — and, most importantly, how to change their minds when new evidence emerges.

“The good news is you are not stepping forward alone,” Erickson said. “You’re connected to your families, to your teachers, to this community, to generations of Vashon Island graduates who sat here where we gather now.”

Students were also recognized for a range of achievements, including those who completed associate degrees through Running Start while earning their high school diplomas.

Jason Butler, teacher and ASB adviser, introduced the winners of the Pieces of Eight Award — a tradition at the high school since 1983 honoring the character of eight graduates.

Once again, each winner earned a sterling silver medallion produced by school jewelry teacher Kate Dunagan. The honors, nominated by school administrators and staff, go to students who exhibit leadership, service, commitment, citizenship, integrity, engagement, inspiration and Pirate pride.

This year’s recipients were Emma Campbell, Anahi Nunez Hernandez, Dashiel Palermo, Emily Harrington, Sutton Archambault, Conor Delcamp, Delilah Spence and Persephone “Lena” Puz.

A student performance of Green Day’s “Good Riddance” rang through the bleachers, featuring Sebastian Gallez and Aariana Lewis on vocals, Jonah Cole on guitar, Henry Cooper on trumpet, Tyler Davis on clarinet, Toby Swan on drums, Marlowe Cardoza on piano and Robyn Kestle on percussion.

Kovacs then recognized the top 10 students with the highest GPAs after the valedictorians and salutatorians: Emma J. Campbell, Conor Patrick Delcamp, Ling Ling Endelin, Isadora Harris, Stella Viola Nackos, Dashiel Brady Palermo, Lena Puz, Nathaniel M. Schill, Diana Trundle-Strachan and Estella Luna Kailani Wahanik.

The valedictorians — Rachel Gross, Emily Harrington, August Kampmeier and Isaac Newcomb — addressed their classmates toward the end of the ceremony.

The school’s salutatorians — students recognized for earning the next-highest academic honors after the valedictorians — were Oskar Cobb Maigetter, Cecelia Guenther, Daisy Jones and Avery Maclean.

Then, one by one, graduates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas.

They walked out to a song many had heard countless times before: the Vashon Island High School Fight Song.

Many graduates are now headed to four-year colleges around the country, ready to see and learn beyond this whimsical island while carrying their Pirate pride with them. Others are headed to trade school, work, athletics and new adventures.

But wherever they go next, the Class of 2026 will carry a piece of Vashon with them.

Congratulations, Class of 2026.