The Class of 2026 gathered for the penultimate time on the Friday before graduation to celebrate each other through academic and athletic awards, performances, and peer recognition.
Head of Upper School Scott Small kicked off the evening by welcoming everyone to Brauer Auditorium. He expressed appreciation for the leadership demonstrated by the Class of 2026 over the past four years, saying, “You have set a wonderful mark for your younger peers to strive for next year and established so many meaningful relationships along the way.”
He continued, “When it comes to relationships, our next speaker has been as integral to your experience at MICDS as almost any other adult. He cares more deeply about you than I think you realize—as evidenced from the many evening hours that he and I have spent just talking through how we can support each one of you through whatever life circumstances found their way to you during your time under his care, even if he did occasionally hold you accountable at times in ways you might not have loved. But remember this: how selfless (and, yes, at the same time, possibly foolish) must one truly be as a school administrator to provide his personal cell phone number to every parent in your class?
“Over the past four years, Dean Daniel George has worked hard to champion you as learners and people, to ensure you are attentive to the well-being of those around you, and to help you in your quests to be ready for what college and life beyond will demand of you. Here’s hoping he passes his final test and gets all of your names right on Monday evening. For his years of service on your behalf, please join me in welcoming Mr. George to the podium.”
Dean George took the microphone and heaped love upon the class he has shepherded through the Upper School for the last four years.
Seniors, as you know, there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting in my Dr. Evil-style chair, in my new remote office in the middle of one of the bushes by Polk Pond or lying in an otherwise empty office, surrounded by red Solo cups filled with water and barely-alive goldfish. Or perhaps I could return to my one true passion in life: dress coding you one final time or issuing your last-ever 4:00–6:00 p.m. detentions for tardies.
If only Ms. White were here tonight, so I could ask her to confiscate all senior cell phones and return them upon your graduation from college in 2030.
But, kidding aside, you will be happy to know that instead of handing out detentions, tonight I’m handing out what I will fondly call a mass liberation to the Class of 2026. So, I would like every senior who earned a C- or above in every class during Semester 2, to please stand up…which means, yes, everyone should be standing! You are the first class in my time at MICDS—and possibly one of the first in MICDS history—to finish senior year with not a single student in academic peril. That says something extraordinary about your resilience, your support for one another, and your ability to lock in when it mattered most. Please give yourselves a huge round of applause.
Seniors, I love you dearly, and tonight has been about you. We celebrate you. We adore you.
And we implore you to leave this place and go out into the world as wildly creative, deeply curious challengers of ordinary thinking. Please don’t be hyper-focused on grades; instead, please search for authentic connection and meaningful friendships. Congratulations, Class of 2026. We could not be prouder of you!
Salutatorian Isabelle Cox-Garleanu ’26 addressed her peers (read her remarks here), as did Class President Riley Crawford ’26 (read her remarks here).
Slideshows captured the magic of this class, evoking emotions in both the seniors and their parents. It was an evening full of heartfelt memories and recognition of the unbreakable bonds of this class. Congratulations to the following members who received recognition:
Awards
- Valedictorian: Harrison Foster ’26
- Salutatorian: Isabelle Cox-Garleanu ’26
- Charger Award: Dalton Costick ’26
- Eagleton English Award: Harrison Foster ’26
- Kalish History Award: Aiyla Ahmad ’26
- Excellence in the Arts Award: Gigi Koster ’26
- Aurelian Prize: Ava Casillas ’26
- Morse Family 12th Grade Award: Cade Miller ’26
- Nash Poetry Award: Taylor Nuzum ’26
- Ryan Guillams Creative Writing Award: Zoe Gannon ’26
- Mitchell Science Award: Isabelle Williams ’26
- Nadia Danett Foreign Language Prize: Mia Brauer ’26
- Frederick Werremeyer Mathematics Award: Ian Zar ’26
- Faculty Prize: Riley Crawford ’26
- Wood Humanitarian Award: Dalton Costick ’26
- Mary Klein Eddy Spirit of Learning Award: Alana Chandler ’26
- James A. Baur Award: Gabe Weaver ’26
- Mary Elizabeth Burlingame Award: Georgia Lochhead ’26
- James Andrew Benecke Award: Miles Coleman ’26
Head of School Awards
- Carrie Clennan ’26
- Sam Glasser ’26
- Sean Hogan ’26
- Amelia Mackin ’26
- Evita Okohson-Reb ’26
- Shil Penilla ’26
- Henry Rohan ’26
Performances
- Ellie Chen ’26, Siboney Oviedo-Gray ’26, and Isabelle Williams ’26 (Nahoko, I Miss You)
- Harper Clark ’26 (Turning Tables)
- Carrie Clennan ’26, Taylor Nuzum ’26, and Lainie Zimmer ’26 (Landslide)
- Luke McGinness ’26 (Eruption)
- Isabelle Cox-Garleanu ’26 (Voila)
Sports Boosters Athletic Awards
- Aiyla Ahmad ’26
- Athreya Arvind ’26
- Mia Brauer ’26
- Reese Brinker ’26
- Ava Casillas ’26
- Alana Chandler ’26
- Miles Coleman ’26
- Dalton Costick ’26
- Riley Crawford ’26
- Drew Danforth ’26
- Alexa Davis ’26
- Catherine Dawson ’26
- Ash Falk ’26
- Addilyn Farmer ’26
- Graham Faust ’26
- Andrew Ford ’26
- Rebecca Frazier ’26
- Jacob Genin ’26
- Samuel Glasser ’26
- Thomas Goodman ’26
- Olivia Hill ’26
- Sean Hogan ’26
- Lillian Joe ’26
- Nolan Jones ’26
- Karthik Krishnaswamy ’26
- Georgia Lochhead ’26
- Amelia Mackin ’26
- Charlotte Medler ’26
- Cooper Myers ’26
- Laurion Nicholson ’26
- Peter O’Leary ’26
- Shil Penilla ’26
- Ben Petersen ’26
- Narya Phatak ’26
- Henry Rohan ’26
- Katherine Sheehan ’26
- James Snyder IV ’26
- Jason Stokes ’26
- Jack Tipton ’26
- Akira Washington ’26
- Gabe Weaver ’26
- Zachary Withington ’26
- Yusuf Zayed ’26
- Andy Zheng ’26