Highland Park High School honored traditions and celebrated emerging talents during the Class of 2026 commencement exercises on May 22 at SMU’s Moody Coliseum.
The graduation ceremony’s highlights included a guitar and vocal duet from seniors Isaiah Lee and Jaron Pierce, as well as a clarinet solo of What a Wonderful World by senior Ian Hyde.
Salutatorian Bradley Liang, who had a GPA of 4.729, and valedictorian Henry Zhu, whose GPA was 4.782, each began their time at the podium by thanking the teachers, friends, and family members who had made their academic success possible.
Liang told the audience “I hate it when a guy gets on stage and thanks half a million people. I’ll keep this list short.” He then unfurled a list of people to thank that stretched to the floor, to laughter from students and families.
Liang analogized students’ efforts to building a mountain. Though they may forget their GPAs and accomplishments, the insights, experience, and skills they’ve accumulated will bring them closer to their goals.
“You didn’t work for the past three years, nine months, 13 hours, and 20 minutes for a piece of paper, but for what it represents,” he said. “A marker of how tall your mountain is right now.”
Zhu spoke about the value of time, commenting that, “People like to say that time is money, but it’s not just money. It’s the only thing that we have.” He urged classmates to devote their energies to the people, dreams, and passions that make them who they are.
For more graduation coverage, check out Park Cities People’s July issue, which will be available the week of June 22.
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