This year’s class of graduating seniors at the regional high school is a big one. With 181 seniors and achievements across every area of the high school, it can be hard to characterize them as a group. 

But class advisors Ena Thulin and Kiely Rigali wasted no time in pointing out the class’s energetic spirit, which made its mark on the school over the past year. 

“They get involved, they want to have fun, they play the games, they don’t get embarrassed,” said Ms. Thulin, a history teacher at the school. “They sort of just have fun and enjoy it, and then that energy trickles down to the younger grades.”

“It was just unfiltered joy, I would say, with these kids,” she said. 

The regional high school class of 2026 will gather on Sunday, June 7, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs for its graduation ceremony.

This year’s class excelled in all areas, from the classroom to the sports fields and creative arts, and along the way showed up for events, and each other, in big numbers. 

“They’re driven, they’re self-motivated, they have this level of how they conduct themselves, and they’ve just been such a pleasure to teach,” said Ms. Rigali. “They allowed teachers to bring out and challenge them.” 

Senior Adriana Young said there are many high achievers in the class. 

“They’re very, very intent on their work,” she said of her classmates. “I could have a conversation with 90 per cent of my classmates and it would be an interesting one.”

The class of 2026 also found balance alongside their academics.

“They’re all really good students, and they’re really dedicated, but they don’t sacrifice that in exchange for just having fun,” said Ms. Thulin. “It’s a rare group that does that, and this class has always been that way.” 

Their joy and energy extended to athletics, with droves of students showing up to support their classmates. 

Senior Elle Mone achieved a 100-point milestone in hockey this year. Senior Ronan Mullin broke his own 100-meter butterfly record, and teamed up with seniors Grady Stalgren and Claus Smith to secure a new 400-meter freestyle relay record. 

Girls swim captain and senior class vice-president Nora Motahari recalled leading a 45-person swim team this year, helping the newer swimmers — many of them from other sports teams — get comfortable in the water and learn the butterfly stroke. 

The girls swimming team finished 3rd in the league, the highest they have ever placed in the Cape and Islands Championship. 

Ten student-athletes will continue their athletic careers at Division III schools next year, one of the largest groups in recent memory. 

In the class’s favorite unofficial sport of the year — hacky sack — students probably broke records for most hacky sacks stuck in high places in the school, like the one senior class president Milo Sullivan kicked on top of an AC unit.  

“I remember the janitors were actually mad,” he recalled. “Me and all my friends played hacky sack probably every day for the last few weeks, in the courtyard or the gym.”

Success was abundant in performing arts, where seniors helped fill a double cast of Hadestown this winter and led the Minnesingers in their performances across Italy. Fourteen seniors sang with the Minnesingers this year. 

“I’m inspired by competition,” said Brady Vought, who was Hades in Hadestown, a section leader of the Minnesingers and first trumpet in at least three school bands. “We had some extremely talented musicians going off.” 

Ms. Young, who is attending Rhode Island School of Design next year, reflected on the senior’s creativity. The diversity among her peers was stunning, she said, from watercolor artists, to digital designers, to comic book-style artists. 

“We all have such unique, different styles to how we do things,” she said.

Her own 17-piece AP art portfolio centered around her mixed Korean and white identity, and Ms. Young’s work won her multiple prizes this year. 

“Everybody is super understanding of any person,” she said. “I think our class is very open.” 

This year’s graduating class also made sure the culture of its large Brazilian population was represented, said Karla Robadel. The last four years have been filled with Brazilian nights, dinners and World Cup watch parties, and the number of Portuguese language classes at the school has grown. 

“We just all feel represented, everybody has a place,” she said. “I think it’s not so divided anymore.” 

Ms. Robadel reflected on the recent walkout in support of freshman Nycolas Al Varenga Lima, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in May. 

“We are all united and it’s beautiful to see,” she said. 

Ms. Robadel was one of over a dozen students in her class who earned their Nursing Assistant Certification last year. This year, Ms. Robadel worked at Island Health Care in a work study program, and next year she’ll pursue her nursing degree. 

“I see the impact I can have at such a young age,” said Ms. Robadel. 

It’s a testament to the trust the Vineyard places in the class of 2026 — not just as students, but as active community members. In the automotive technology classes, a division of the school’s career and technical education (CTE) program, students work on cars, lawn mowers and leaf blowers that Islanders bring in, knowing the students can fix it. 

“When somebody needs something to be fixed — a teacher, a student — they come to one of us. They come to me, they come to Hunter, they come to Gannon,” said Xeandre Miller, who is heading to Cape Cod Community College next year to study aviation mechanics. “We as a senior class are trusted to work on peoples’ cars, to go and help people.”

“They’re totally contributing citizens,” said Ms. Rigali. “They’re setting an example of what it is like to be involved.” 

This year, student body vice president Hannah McCormick started a generations club, an initiative born out of her junior year capstone project that brings together high school students and older adults to share their stories and experiences. 

“I think it’s had such a big impact on both generations,” said Ms. McCormick. “They give us so much advice and we hear all their stories, but we tell them about what it’s like growing up as a young person in this world.”

“A lot of the students in this class do a lot of work in the community — with older adults, at the food pantry, at the library,” she added.

Students also came out in large numbers for their senior class fundraisers. Mr. Sullivan said his SAT was the same morning as electronics disposal day. When he finally showed up to the fundraiser, he saw dozens of student volunteers already helping out. 

Their camaraderie shone through at pep rallies and even in their game of senior assassin, a weeks-long water gun elimination tournament which “technically pits them against each other,” said interim principal Sean Mulvey. But the seniors especially showed up for their prom, which class advisors said was fantastic.

“Every kid went, every kid stayed, every kid danced,” said Mr. Mulvey. “They really bonded over that.” 

“I had never danced so much,” said Ms. Motahari. “My calves the next day were sore.” 

The class of 2026 will be remembered for their energy, loyalty and camaraderie, advisors said. 

“It seems the whole class has gelled, and they’re really enjoying each other,” said Mr. Mulvey. 

“They all look out for each other,” added Ms. Rigali. 

Graduation is Sunday, June 7, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.