The first of the graduations began Thursday night at the James E. Bruce Convention Center, as Heritage Christian Academy bid good luck and congratulations to 22 graduates.
The HCA class of 2026 has been awarded $590,890 in scholarships, not including grants or KEES funding, which averages out to nearly $27,000 per graduate. Three students were recognized as Warrior of the Year, including Halleah Mackinley Baker, Collin Clay Outland and Jerry Lee Spurling.
Yafei Iris Gao was named Salutatorian and Lexi Marie Lyon was named Valedictorian—Lyon was also recognized for being HCA’s first student to graduate with both her high school diploma and her Associate Degree. She took and passed every AP Exam offered at HCA as well as numerous dual credit classes and an additional CLEP credit for Spanish.
Lyon spoke of the pride she has in her classmates, saying she’s confident they have the determination to speak up when necessary, and the stubbornness to push forward no matter the obstacles.
HCA has now established an early college program that will begin next school year, so they’re hopeful they’ll be able to celebrate that again in the future.
Both Jonathan David Allard and Jerry Lee Spurling were presented with an Academic Excellence Award, recognizing them for having greater than a 4.0 grade point average and dual credit classes.