Lisbon High School hosted their annual graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 17 with a total of five valedictorians.

As is tradition, the Lisbon High School Band played “Pomp and Circumstance” as about 50 graduates filed into the gym to take their seats as the ceremony began at 1 p.m.

Once the graduates had taken their seats, graduating senior choir members were invited to sing the National Anthem under the direction of Lisbon’s choir director, Julie Stulken.

Directly following the singing of the National Anthem was a performance of “Hill Country Holiday” by the Lisbon High School Band, a song that the graduating seniors had chosen as their final performance.

Following a brief welcome speech from Lisbon’s secondary principal, Jack Leighty, the five valedictorians of the class of 2026, Abby Bock, Lynnlee Caspers, Jackson Knapp, Caleb Ross, and Kaitlyn Silver, made their way up to the stage.

Together, the valedictorians shared some of their favorite memories from their time together, including a breath holding contest that sent their classmate, Sawyer Feldman, to the hospital, or their collective opinion—an opinion shared by generations of Lisbon’s graduates—that “Animal Farm,” doesn’t actually carry over to real life, contrary to Lisbon High School English teacher, J’nee Reade’s opinion.

Taking the stage after the valedictorians, Lisbon High School English teacher Ellen Johanns took the stage to give a lively and engaging commencement speech. Johanns made sure to include each of the 53 graduates, even with a few absent from the ceremony, and did so by creating a short story using the graduates as the characters.

Johanns’s speech followed a graduate who must find five people that represent five concepts before their diploma could get signed, including the ties that bind and light that shines from within, among others. The graduate takes a journey through Lisbon High School and finds these concepts through the personalities of the class of 2026.

At the end of the story, when it seemed that Johanns had forgotten some students, a twist in the story came in which the graduate had to find a student who could recite “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) [Taylor’s Version],” in which the graduate found two: Lynnlee Caspers and Avery Long.

To follow Johanns’s speech sprinkled with humor, the Lisbon High School Choir took the stage to perform “Lovely Day” before superintendent Autumn Pino gave a quick moment of recognition to the Lisbon Bschool board Rrepresentatives, thanking them for their service to the school and for all that they do.

“Now to the part we’re all here for,” Lisbon’s secondary principal, Jack Leighty said before introducing Lisbon’s secondary counselor, Christina Meierotto, to introduce the graduates for the presentation of diplomas.

Once the final student had crossed the stage, the class of 2026 ended their time at Lisbon Schools by throwing their capsmortarboards in the air to the sound of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears.