Brother Rice Class of 2026 Graduation Speeches
As the Brother Rice High School Class of 2026 crossed the commencement stage and prepared to begin the next chapter of their journeys, our eight top scholars offered reflections that captured the heart of the Brother Rice experience.
In their graduation speeches, our Valedictorians and Salutatorians shared reflections of faith, brotherhood, perseverance, and gratitude while encouraging their classmates to carry the lessons learned at Brother Rice into the future. Their words serve as a powerful reminder that the bonds formed here extend far beyond graduation.
It’s more than four; it’s a lifetime.
The brotherhood forged during these last four years continues to shape young men long after they leave our halls. We are honored to share their remarks and celebrate the voices of the Class of 2026.
Caden Hong, Valedictorian
Good evening, my name is Caden Hong, Class of 2026 Valedictorian. Before I begin, I would like to thank my wonderful parents, my family and friends who have supported me along the way, the adults of Brother Rice, and each one of the students in the crowd who have made my experience special.
As we wait for our diplomas and daydream about what’s to come in the next decade, it’s easy to forget who helped us along the way. Every classroom at Brother Rice has a teacher who believes in students no one else believes in, who spends countless hours outside the classroom planning the next day, and who pushes through to mold us today. The teachers who don’t lose their patience when someone asks, “Wait, was that due?” or “Wait, you never told us we had a quiz”.
Teachers teach beyond science formulas and historical facts; they instill the RICE pillars within us. They invest in the way we hold ourselves and how we will one day contribute to society. While we can just write a letter or clap for them, I believe there’s a better way to show gratitude.
The best way is to go out and become great people, not successful, but the most respectful, kind, and innovative people this world has ever seen. People who protect. People who become leaders and sacrifice themselves. People who reach new heights in their respective fields. It’s cliché, but teachers won’t remember how good you were in school, because the reality is your GPA isn’t special. They will remember the students who go on to change their field or make a difference in the community. This alone will prove to the teachers that their efforts mattered.
So, gentleman, congratulations on surviving years of weekends, every subject every night, and tru foods lunch menus. Let us live into adulthood in a way that our teachers would be fulfilled.
Before I end, I want to repeat something someone I look up to once wrote me: “Gentlemen, the sky’s the limit.”
Live, Jesus, in our hearts. Forever!
Ashton Kallabat, Valedictorian
Good evening. My name is Ashton Kallabat, and I am the valedictorian of the Class of 2026.
First, I would like to thank my family for always being my biggest supporters, the teachers and staff at Brother Rice for constantly pushing us to become better students, better leaders, and better young men, and my 142 other brothers here with me today for making these past four years both outstanding and unforgettable.
When people describe Brother Rice, one word comes up again and again: excellence.
At Brother Rice, excellence is easy to recognize. It looks like our many trophy cases lining the hallways, an athlete signing to play in college, or a classmate opening an acceptance letter from his dream school.
My time here at Brother Rice has shown me that excellence is much more than achievement alone.
One overlooked part of excellence is the journey itself.
The adversity, setbacks, moments in prayer, and lessons we have learned are often the experiences nobody sees, but they are the times we choose to keep going when things become difficult. Those moments matter because they are where excellence is formed before it is ever recognized.
I learned that in Mr. Filo’s class freshman year. While I definitely did not enjoy doing the endless study guides or hearing the dreaded words “take out a sheet of paper” before a quiz, I eventually realized there was purpose behind his approach. At the time, I thought he was just making our lives harder for no reason, but looking back now, he was teaching us how to be disciplined, resilient, and prepared for challenges far beyond his classroom.
But there is another form of excellence that Brother Rice taught me.
I remember Mr. Higdon once said what makes Brother Rice special is not simply our academic or athletic accomplishments. There are many schools with talented students, successful programs, and impressive achievements. What separates Brother Rice is the way we are taught to love others, show compassion, and carry ourselves as images of Christ, just as Blessed Edmund Rice did.
I think that very idea is reflected perfectly in the brotherhood we have built here, because behind every accomplishment we celebrate tonight was a brother beside us: the one who has shared notes before the test we forgot about, pushed us harder at practice, made us laugh on the days we needed it most, or reminded us of who we were when we doubted ourselves.
During our time here, we have gone on Kairos together, packed student sections together, served our communities together, sprinted to the parking lot after school together, and probably heard the word “gentlemen” enough times to last us the rest of our lives.
Everything we have experienced over these past four years has led us to this very moment. So now, the question becomes: Will we leave these lessons behind as memories tied only to high school, or will we continue carrying forward the excellence we have developed in this special place through the way we live our daily lives?
Live, Jesus, in Our Hearts. Forever!
Nikolai Korniyevskiy, Valedictorian
Good evening, everyone! My name is Nikolai Korniyevskiy, and I am one of the valedictorians of our class of 2026.
First, I would like to thank my mom, dad, my sisters, and all other family and friends present here today. And congratulations to the graduating class of 2026. We are about to embark on a new chapter of our lives, but we have to look back on this one first. Over the past four years, we have grown from clueless 8th graders just entering high school to now being considered adults. This would not have been possible without those supporting us – our parents, teachers, counselors, and friends. They have invested so much into us because they want us to succeed.
No matter what path in life we are heading to next, we will always have those behind us as support to fall back on during tough times. We owe our parents a great debt for providing us with such an amazing opportunity to get a Brother Rice education. And the ultimate show of respect would be to continue to learn, grow, and push ourselves outside the halls of Brother Rice.
Going back to the Rice Pillars instilled in us, respect comes first, and that should be how we strive to live our everyday lives going forward. Having respect is also fundamental in advancing our future professional careers. Respect for others, as well as ourselves, will shape the kind of people we become long after we leave Brother Rice.
As we move forward into the next stage of our lives, let us carry the lessons, values, and brotherhood we built here with us every day. Congratulations once again to the graduating Class of 2026, and thank you all for being part of this unforgettable journey.
And as always, Live Jesus in our Hearts Forever.
Matheus Pinto, Valedictorian
Good evening, my name is Matheus Pinto, and I am the valedictorian of the Class of 2026.
There’s a common misconception that the students standing at this podium haven’t made mistakes, and that a high GPA and our titles mean a flawless journey. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
I’ll prove it to you.
Whether it was showing up on my very first day at Brother Rice in the wrong dress code and crying in front of Mr. O, or showing up to my AP Calculus exam half an hour late just last week, I have made mistakes. A lot of them. And most of you have had a front row seat.
In those moments, I felt what I think all of you have felt at some point: embarrassment, frustration, that quiet voice that whispers you should have known better. At the time, I was disappointed in myself. And my dad? Each mistake he was convinced was the end of the world.
But here’s what I’ve learned: it never was.
Every mistake I made turned out to be an opportunity to learn something. And slowly, you stop seeing your mistakes as proof of your weakness, and you start seeing them as the very things that shape you into who you’re meant to become.
But I didn’t figure any of that out on my own. If there’s one thing I’ve done in my life that was for sure not a mistake, it was choosing Brother Rice. To the guys graduating today, thank you for making sure I knew when I messed up, but also for being there every time I had to find my way back.
To my teachers, thank you for seeing more in me than I sometimes saw in myself. You made this place feel like somewhere worth showing up to, even half an hour late.
And to my family, who I’m convinced has aged ten years for every mistake I’ve made, thank you. Your belief in me never wavered, and your grace through my failures taught me the most important lesson I’ll pass on:
As we leave these halls today, don’t be afraid to get it wrong. Be afraid of playing it so safe that you never discover what you’re truly made of.
Go Rice, Go Blue, and most importantly, Live Jesus in our Hearts!
Owen Stropoli, Valedictorian
Good evening, my name is Owen Stropoli, and I am a valedictorian of the Class of 2026. Before my speech begins, I would like to thank my parents for their constant belief in me, my family for their ever-present support, my teachers for every hour they have put into my development, and my brother for inspiring me every day. Most of all, thank you to my classmates, my brothers, who I will always remember dearly. All that fit into these categories, and anyone else I may have neglected to mention who has aided me in my journey, know that I am so deeply grateful that these words of thanks fail to express my sentiments to their fullest extent.
As I was preparing for this speech, I thought of the old adage of “the blind leading the blind.” I can confidently say that I have no more knowledge of life, of what lies ahead of us, than any of you do. But I can tell you what I know I need to do in the coming years, and perhaps what we need to do. My speech topic is “finding inspiration.” As a Latin student, I love the word “inspire.” “Spirire” means “to breathe.”
So, inspiration is something being breathed into you. And when I hear this, I think of the breath of God. Of the fact that when He breathed life into us, He also endowed each and every one of us with gifts. My religion teacher in grade school used to say that God reveals Himself in His creation. So truly, these traits and these talents that He gives us are shares in His character, and to use and to practice them are to be more like Him.
Each and every one of you are special, and were given gifts that will enable you to do good for those around you, and for the whole world. So, when you go off to college, try everything. Find what you’re good at. And when you’re in need of inspiration, look to those you love. Look to your parents, your siblings, your friends, the lowly, the trodded-on, and ask yourself how can my gifts, my talents, be used to give life unto them. How can I let my love for them drive every action that I do, and in doing so, make their lives better? I have confidence, faith, that if you do this, if I do this, if we do this…that our lives will be fulfilling. Congratulations to my classmates and Live Jesus in Our Hearts…
Hyunwoo Yoo, Valedictorian
Good evening, my name is Hyunwoo Yoo, and I am the valedictorian of the Class of 2026.
I would like to start by thanking my parents. Their unconditional support is the sole reason why I am able to stand here before everyone today. Even while they were still figuring things out themselves in a new country, they guided me and shaped me into the person I am today, always bringing out the best in me. Thank you, Mom and Dad. I love you.
When people celebrate, especially in moments like today, they often focus only on the achievements. But what is overlooked many times is perhaps more important than the result itself. It is the journey of ups and downs that made those achievements possible.
Reflecting on the journey the class of 2026 had, one quality continued to define our class for four years: perseverance. And I define perseverance as the strength to face difficulties and fight through them.
Over the past four years, everyone here has had a goal of some kind, whether it was to succeed academically, make their family proud, discover their path in the future, or simply make it to this day. And everyone here has had enough determination to face the obstacles standing in the way of their goals and overcome them. That determination is what has carried us to this day.
Standing here and looking at the faces of my peers reminds me of the tough moments that we have conquered together. When I was at my nadir, buried under overwhelming stress, it was my classmates and their perseverance that I drew inspiration from to bounce back.
As we move forward in our lives, I am certain that we will face crushing challenges. However, knowing the class of 2026 and what we have overcome in the past four years, I am also certain that each one of us is capable of pushing through every obstacle that we may face in our lives, just like we have been doing since the beginning of our journey.
So let’s not make today only a celebration of our achievements, but also a celebration of our brilliant perseverance.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts. Forever!
Sam Meyers, Salutatorian
Good evening, my name is Sam Meyers. I am the salutatorian of the class of 2026.
First, I want to thank my parents, family, friends, and teachers for supporting me throughout my time at Brother Rice High School. I appreciate everything they have done to help me get to this point.
One of the pillars at Brother Rice is character, and I think that this is something that becomes more vital as we get older. Character is about the decisions you make and how you treat others behind closed doors. It is not something you can measure with grades or awards, but it affects the way people remember you and how you leave behind your legacy.
During high school, everyone goes through different experiences. Some moments are successful, some are stressful, and some are just part of growing up. Like the time in AP Physics 1 where Owen and I took the grade on the chin and didn’t complain about it. We did not try to implore for extra credit or loathe her class. Through all of that, character is what keeps people responsible, honest, and respectful toward others. It also means learning from mistakes and figuring out who you want to be moving forward.
Character matters because eventually we will all leave school and enter the real world, which is full of closed doors. The habits and values we build now will carry over into college, work, relationships, and everyday situations.
As we move on from high school, I hope we continue to develop into people who exemplify the pillars and retain the character we developed along the way.
Thank you, and congratulations to the Class of 2026.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts…
Owen Zidar, Salutatorian
Good evening, everyone. My name is Owen Zidar, and I am honored to be one of the salutatorians of the Class of 2026.
I want to thank all of you for coming out tonight to support all of us, graduates. None of us would be who we are today without all of you. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I would also personally like to thank my family. Thank you to my grandparents for coming all this way to see me. Thank you to my siblings, as the youngest, I look up to all for what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. Most importantly, thank you, Mom and Dad. I can say for certain that you guys have made me the best possible version of myself. Actually, I know you guys have some tweaks you want me to make before I leave for college, but that’s a problem for another time.
My choice to come here wasn’t that of your typical Rice student, and by that, I mean I had no choice. You see, there have been seven other Zidars prior to me at Rice. All setting a hard act to follow, but none of them got asked to speak at their graduations, so I’m taking this as a huge win.
When I was in 8th grade, I went to my parents to ask if I was shadowing any other schools besides Rice. The answer to that question was quick “No.” And to be honest, the more I think about it, I now realize that was the only correct response. Because why go anywhere else?
In these past four years, I have come to know that Brother Rice is one of the most unique places on Earth. I mean, where else can you see your principal sink a putt clean across the whole basketball court to win Catholic School’s Week? No, but seriously, it’s hard to find a place where young men can come and truly be themselves and build relationships with all those around them. I know from watching my family that the bonds you build here will last forever.
It’s a brotherhood that will never leave you. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve been stopped in my Brother Rice hoodie by someone I don’t know and had them start up a conversation about how the boys in black and orange are doing. It’s not just some coincidence. Rice instills in everyone a desire for excellence not only of themselves but of those around them. It’s a place not just where success just happens, it’s the standard. So, to all the Brother Rice alumni present and not, thank you.
Finally, I can’t forget to thank my fellow graduates, my brothers. These last four years have been truly amazing, and it’s because of each of you. There are too many funny moments with all of you guys, both in school and at extracurriculars, to get through in one speech. You all have gained a brother for life. I’m here for all you guys, and I know I can count on each of you for the same. Thank you.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts. Forever!
Congratulations to the Class of 2026. The best is yet to come!