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Congratulations to the Class of 2026!
We had a wonderful few days celebrating the 24 graduates in the Class of 2026! Scroll down to see pictures and videos from their Senior Thesis Project, USLR Awards Ceremony, Senior Walk, Senior Brunch, Baccalaureate Service, and Commencement.
As the culmination of their Classical education, students in Grade 12 are required to complete the Senior Thesis Project. This interdisciplinary and comprehensive project requires students to write a 15-page research paper and to give an oral defense in front of their peers and a panel of faculty and experts. Click a student’s name to view their thesis presentation.
| Graduate | Senior Thesis Topic | Honors (if applicable) | ||
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Children Need Nature: Why Society Has Ignored the Facts: Outdoor unstructured play is a necessary part of a child’s life due to its developmental, cognitive, and motor benefits. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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A Defense of The Iranian Shah: The Iranian Shah, outed in the 1979 revolution, is misunderstood by most and deserves a closer look.
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Cum Laude |
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Preventing Obesity: Instilling Good Habits for Optimal Weight Management: Convenient and practical ways of treating obesity not just for daily health, but to prevent risks that lead to death. |
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Explicit Instruction Versus Inquiry Based Learning in Mathematics: How Do Students Actually Learn?: Explicit instruction, including teacher-student interactions, step-by-step models, feedback, and practice is the best way to provide a good education to every student. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude
Class of 2026 Valedictorian |
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Unregulated Risks: Why the U.S. Must Strengthen Food Additive Policies to Protect Public Health: Research has uncovered that food additives can have irreversible negative effects to one’s health, rasing the question: are the products safe to consume, and is there enough regulation of these additives?
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Risk Versus Reward: Evaluating the Safety, Community, and Career Value of Military Service: Military service is a viable option after high school as it is less dangerous than most believe and boosts you into the job market through valuable skills and experiences.
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National Honor Society
Magna Cum Laude |
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Andrew Burgos The Exploitation of Lookism: Our value comes not from our physical appearance, yet everywhere we look the message conflicts with that reality. (no video available) |
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The Pen is Mightier Than the Keyboard: The Cognitive and Developmental Benefits of Handwriting as the Method for School Note-Taking: Students should resort to handwriting as their method of notetaking as it improves their memory and reading comprehension. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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Permissive Parenting and Its Impact on Children: Permissive Parenting is making it hard for children to develop life skills such as empathy and resilience. |
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Applications of 3D Printing in Healthcare: Improved Results in Surgical Replacement and Repair: The incorporation of 3D printing in the healthcare industry, specifically how outcomes of surgical replacement and repair have improved through its use. |
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Holding the Ecosystem Together: The Critical Role of Keystone Species Conservation: Keystone species must be the focus for conservation, through captive breeding, reintroduction, and simple changes in our own daily lives so that other species, ecosystems, and even our own lives, can reap the benefits of their repopulation. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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Conditioning the Mind: Short-Form Algorithms and the Reshaping of Human Attention: Attention–maximizing feed design should be reformed—not only for educational and civic health–but for the preservation of human reasoning and flourishing. |
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National Honor Society
Magna Cum Laude |
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Engagement over Egalitarianism: Inside the Economy that is Eroding American Democracy: A new era of commerce is upon us. It is one that commodifies attention, characterized by the ever-present advertising industry. |
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Cum Laude |
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Hydroponics: The Future of Urban Farming: What is the best solution to supply chain problems, resource waste, and space efficiency in urban settings? |
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National Honor Society
Magna Cum Laude |
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The Benefits of Integrating Music into Primary Education: A Neurological Perspective: Integrating music into primary education improves children’s memory, ultimately setting them up for sucess in future education. |
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National Honor Society
Magna Cum Laude |
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Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones: The Problem With Hate Speech: The threat of equating speech with violence is the collapse of a fair democracy, freedom of speech, and the unequal application of the law to those it should serve to protect. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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Beyond Medication: The Role of Cortisol in Chronic Inflammation and Autoimmune Disorders: Education about cortisol levels, in conjunction with medicine, is necessary to manage and control chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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Worth the Investment: CAR-T Therapy for Relapsed and Refractory B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: What areas of cancer research and treatment are worth continuing? |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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An Active Student Body: The Transformative Benefits of Regular Daily Movement: Modern teens in America are not moving enough and this sedentary lifestyle has silent consequences such as fatigue and mental burnout. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude |
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Once Upon a Time: The Beauty and Necessity of the World of Faiere for Children: The fairytales of the Grimm brothers should be a part of reading time for children in younger elementary grades, because the stories address hard subjects in a way that gives children hope rather than despair. |
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National Honor Society
Magna Cum Laude |
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Parental Choice in the Age of Vaccines: Parents should have the right to decide which vaccines are administered to their children and to be fully informed about what is included in routine immunizations. |
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Societal Stigma: The Role Community Can Play for Men in the Mental Health Sphere: Establishing strong male communities is the best way to break the general societal stigma that surrounds men and the way we view men’s emotions. |
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Malpractice – Can We Really Trust the Ones Who are Sworn to Protect?: In cases of malpractice, doctors who are sworn to protect us are punished because of mistakes they have made–are they unqualified or are there other external factors which may be at fault? |
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Editing the Future with Caution: An Evaluation of Gene Editing in Modern Medicine: Prioritization of gene editing within scientific research on the basis and consideration of ethical, social, and technological tensions. |
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National Honor Society
Summa Cum Laude
Class of 2026 Salutatorian |
Click here to view pictures from the Senior Thesis Symposium.
Valedictorian
Greta Baird
Salutatorian
Simeon Yen
The Maurer Award for Comprehensive Excellence
Awarded to Haley Nelson
This award is named in recognition of Mr. Geoffrey Maurer, the founding Dean of Covenant’s Rhetoric School. It is given to one Rhetoric School student in recognition of demonstrated, well-rounded, and humble excellence characterized by godliness, maturity, and trustworthiness during the year.
Leadership Award
Awarded to Simeon Yen
This award is given to one student in the Rhetoric School for high-quality and demonstrated leadership during the 2025-2026 school year.
The Azadian Award (formerly The Dean’s Award)
Awarded to Maley Adair
This award is named in recognition of Mrs. Kathy Azadian, Covenant’s founding Athletic Director, former Dean of Students, and current board member. It is given to one senior who has proactively worked to foster a positive school community and has performed consistent and humble service to the Covenant community.
Coaches Cup Athletic Award
Awarded to Tristan Vieira and Gianna Chamberlain-DiMattia
This award is given to two students, one female, and one male, for their leadership qualities in athletics, work ethic, high skill level in their sport, and good sportsmanship.
Excellence in Performing Arts Award
Awarded to Sophia Coleman
This award is given to one graduating senior in recognition of outstanding and consistent excellence in the Performing Arts throughout their Rhetoric School career.
Excellence in Visual Arts Award
Awarded to Gianna Chamberlain-DiMattia
This award is given to one graduating senior in recognition of outstanding and consistent excellence in the Visual Arts throughout their Rhetoric School career.
Ovation Award
Awarded to Sophia Jacobson and Sophia Coleman
The Ovation Award is given to graduating seniors who have participated in three or more performance groups through every year of Rhetoric School. Eligible groups include: Concert Band, Jazz Band, RS Choir, Worship Band, and yearly Theatrical Performances. Additionally, the Director of Fine Arts may credit a student with one portion of eligibility due to exemplary “above and beyond” service behind the scenes to the Fine Arts department.
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Click here to view more pictures from the USLR Awards Ceremony.
The Class of 2026 continued an annual tradition of parading through the hallways of CCA to the cheers of students and faculty!
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A celebration for our senior class and their families offering a time to share memories, reflections, and gratitude for their time at CCA.
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Click here to view more pictures from the Senior Brunch.
Pastor and CCA Parent Kevin Baird delivered a meaningful message to our graduates on the eve of graduation. Juniors and Seniors participated in the Passing of the Flame Ceremony.
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Click here to view more pictures from the Baccalaureate service.
Click below to watch the full video of the Class of 2026 Baccalaureate service.
Mr. Andrew Hoover, Logic School Faculty and Director of Theater Arts, delivered the Keynote Address. Senior Simeon Yen delivered the Salutatory Address, and Senior Greta Baird delivered the Valedictory Address.
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Click here to view full gallery of Commencement photos.
Picture downloads are complimentary and available in both low res (best for digital use) or high res (best for printing) versions.
Click below to watch the full video of the Class of 2026 Commencement Ceremony.
