ELDRED, NY — 42 seniors excitedly threw their caps, tassels flying, to conclude Eldred Junior-Senior High’s June 26th ceremony.

Eldred’s class of 2026 was a fairly decorated one, with students collectively winning over 20 scholarships and various awards. Nine students also completed a SUNY Sullivan pathway program, meaning they have earned an associates degree while in high school.

“Not to brag, but our class has been one of the most athletic classes that Eldred has seen in quite some time,” salutorian Tabitha Smith remarked during Friday’s commencement.

Smith added that even though some students did not participate in sports, sporting events brought their whole graduating class together.

“Sports may have started as games, races and competitions, but they became so much more than that.” she noted.

Smith emphasized that while having a small class size might seem ordinary to them, it is actually quite unique.

“We watched each other learn how to read, ride the bus and navigate the challenges of growing up,” she commented. Even when new students were added, Smith said, it “felt as though they’d always been there.”

Because of this small class size, Smith continued, Eldred’s class of 2026 will always be connected by “inside jokes, traditions and memories that only our class will truly understand,”

Eldred Central School District Superintendent Traci Ferreira told the graduating class that she had just attended a sixth grade moving up ceremony, which reminded her that this year's class did not get one due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“No crowded gym; no stage to walk across; no collective roar of applause from your teachers and families,” she stated. “A lot has changed since you were sitting in the back seat of those cars.” Ferreira commented, citing generative AI and the Marvel universe as changes the class has grown up seeing.

However, “The biggest transformation has not been the tech or the movies; the biggest change has been you,” she said.

She then urged students to not let the ever-changing landscape around them stop them from chasing their future, as the inconvenience of graduating sixth grade in cars did not stop them from holding a diploma today.

Valedictorian Marissa Gochenour took to the stage to share a message of looking toward the future.

“The funny thing about graduation is everybody starts talking about the future like it’s some sort of mythical creature,” she asserted. “And honestly, the future sounds less like a life stage, and more like a superhero villain.”

Gochenour shared that she has realized now that most of the adults in her life are “pretending to know what they’re doing,” which she found really comforting.

As audience members laughed, Gochenour added that life often ignores five year plans, and that, even though the class will encounter people who seem to have it all figured out, “somewhere out there is a CEO who forgot their password this morning,”

“And even a valedictorian who might have waited until the night before to write her speech,” she joked.

“Every great story starts with somebody who has absolutely no idea what they’re doing,” Gochenour concluded.

Sharing a similar sentiment as Gochenour’s speech, graduate Aaden Houck, who is planning on enrolling in the navy, told the River Reporter that he is feeling “really excited and a little nervous” for his future after high school.

Following the ceremony, Gochenour shared with the River Reporter that graduating high school “doesn’t feel real yet” and that her favorite part of attending Eldred Junior-Senior High was the friends she made and teachers she met. Upon graduating, Gochenour plans to attend the University of Connecticut with a major of biology on the pre-medical track.

Graduate Isabela Rosario shared with the River Reporter that she is also going to be attending the University of Connecticut and pursuing a pre-medical track. Rosario, who said she was feeling amazing and grateful to graduate, added that she appreciated how easy it was to find a group of friends who supported her at Eldred.