EDWARDSVILLE – About 550 Edwardsville High School graduates received their diplomas at a well-attended ceremony in Edwardsville, where school leaders and student speakers highlighted the Class of 2026’s achievements and their transition to life after high school.
Edwardsville High School Principal Alex Fox said the class stood out for how it handled change during its time at the school, including leadership transitions, and said students rose to all expectations.
“It is a group that went through a leadership transition with me taking over two years ago, and how it adjusted to expectations, a very talented group across the board, they are special kids who go with the flow,” Fox said. “They are one of our classes that stepped up to every expectation in front of them.”
Interim Superintendent Allen Duncan, Edwardsville School District Board of Education President Bob Paty and Fox spoke during the ceremony. Student speeches were delivered by Class of 2026 co-presidents Yale Weaver and Caroline Wylie, student council president and student Board of Education member Josie Proctor, and summa cum laude speaker Kaan Demirer.
Teachers Melissa Beck and Kirk Schlueter read the graduates’ names.
Fox also said the ceremony carried personal meaning for him.
“It is interesting for me personally,” Fox said. “Two of the classes that have come through, I feel closer to the kids because each of my daughters was in the classes. Many of the kids are friends of my kids and have been at many of their activities.”
Fox said one of the most emotional parts of the graduation is when kids receive their diplomas and issue a thanks to the administrators or others on the stage.
“As a whole, looking at the faces as they cross the stage is definitely bittersweet,” he said. “The thank yous and personal greetings are definitely touching. This is one of the bittersweet parts of the job, but it is a natural cycle of schooling.”
Fox said graduates are preparing for a variety of next steps, including college, vocational careers and military service. He said the majority of the EHS students will attend four-year or junior colleges, but some on the vocational side have come up through the strong EHS programs and are ready to embark their careers in those areas. Some will join the military and he said he has deep respect for them as his father was in the military for 25 years.
“We have a group of kids highly motivated to start the natural chapter of their lives,” he said. “Graduation day is always a special moment.”
