The sun has set on the Class of 2026’s time at Denair High School.
Quite literally.
Just as the final diploma was handed out last Friday, and as Principal Breanne Aguiar officially introduced the graduating class for the first time, the warm Central Valley sun dipped below the horizon with a golden flourish.
“I don’t know how I did it,” said Aguiar, when asked how she timed the festivities to conclude just as the sun was setting. “It wasn’t planned; that’s for sure.”
What was planned, however, was a crisp, 70-minute ceremony that started precisely at 7 p.m. with the playing of “Pomp and Circumstance” and the entrance of the school’s 66 graduates, resplendent in purple caps and gowns.
Speeches by Aguiar, Superintendent Terry Metzger, Ed.D., valedictorian Emma Sarmiento, salutatorian Brayden Hart, ASB president McKinley Binkley, and senior class president Allison Cherry highlighted the event. And even though graduation ceremonies everywhere have a similar structure, Metzger believes they have unique qualities, too.
“Every single ceremony has its own rhythm, its own flair, its own flavor,” the superintendent said. “It’s hard to describe. Sometimes it’s in the audience and the families cheering for their kids; sometimes it’s in the speeches and who was chosen to give them. But the similarity and the consistency is that these kids love each other. They’ve grown up together and they’ve become a family.”
Aguiar echoed those sentiments.
“Each class brings its unique character,” she said. “And this class, specifically, was special for me because it was the first that I led for all four years. This class will hold a special place in my heart because of that.”
Sarmiento, who plans on attending UC Merced in the fall, delivered a stirring 10-minute bilingual address.
“I had written my speech, made a few edits, and was really proud with what I came up with,” said the valedictorian, who graduated with a 4.35 GPA and plans on majoring in human biology. “I’m just really excited to have this tassel on the other side of my cap.”
During her address, Sarmiento told her classmates, “Over the past four years, I have quietly observed the growth of each of us. Not just in our academic or athletic achievements, but in something that will carry us far beyond high school: I saw us grow in character.”
Members of the Class of 2026 will soon strike out on new journeys, looking to make an impact in places near and far.
“We talk a lot about making an impact on the world,” Binkley told her classmates. “Big dreams, big goals, big futures. But I’ve been thinking: what if the most important impact we make isn’t someday, somewhere far away, but right here in the everyday moments we’ve already lived? The truth is, every single one of us has changed someone else’s life just by being a part of it.”
In addition to the speakers, Cloey Ellerd and Valente Rosales led the Pledge of Allegiance, Zara Devales sang the national anthem, and Dakota Shaw and Chace Butler recognized the scholarship benefactors, who contributed some $73,000 to further DHS students’ education.
