Kell High School’s Class of 2026 walked across the stage Friday night to receive their diplomas, but school leaders encouraged them to think of the occasion as so much more than that.
This year’s seniors include 87 Presidential Scholars—students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher and ACT scores of 1100 or higher—and earned more than $8 million in college scholarship funding.
“You’re not just walking away with a diploma,” Principal Peter Giles said. “You’re carrying memories, lessons and relationships that have shaped you and in turn have shaped this school.”
Giles said he watched this year’s group from the time they were freshmen four years ago, and like all incoming high school students, was curious to see what they would make of their time at Kell.
“You didn’t just find your place, you created it.”
Among the students offering remarks was salutatorian Dylan Brostoff, who will be enrolling at the University of Georgia with plans to major in nursing.
He admitted to being one of those freshmen who wasn’t sure what to expect of high school. Like other seniors speaking at graduation ceremonies, he mentioned his classmates’ school years being interrupted by COVID, and said that the experience fostered a spirit of resilience.
“We have grown in ways we could never have imagined,” Brostoff said. “Our hard work and determination got us here, but none of us got here alone.”
He paid special tribute to “the teachers who genuinely cared about our success—they made the biggest impact on us.”
Kell’s seniors took active part in community service, logging in more than 3,000 hours and raising $100,000 as part of the Shop With a Longhorn program to help needy younger students enjoy their Christmas holidays.
Those will all be part of this class legacy, Giles said, and serves as an important component of their lives going forward.
He urged them to “find your why,” a purpose to fuel their aspirations, which he said are guaranteed to hit some rough spots.
“Your why keeps you going,” he said. “But your toughest challenges will give your journey its real purpose.
“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of it. You’re being redirected, not defeated. You won’t always succeed, but you will always learn.”
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Related:
- Lassiter graduates told to ‘throw yourself into that dream’
- Cobb schools announce 2026 valedictorians and salutatorians
- Wheeler graduates urged to ‘look uncertainty in the eye’
- Pope graduates told to ‘make moments of influence count’
- Cobb schools budget approved; Timber Ridge ES principal named
- Kell HS students recognized as Student Emmy Award winners
- Hightower Trail MS named Georgia Military Flagship school
- East Cobb PTA names Margie Hatfield Scholarship recipients
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