Walla Walla Valley Academy class leaves message of kindness, inclusion as they graduate

Mischievous. Inquisitive. Loyal.

These are the words that Walla Walla Valley Academy Head of Schools Holley Bryant would use to describe the graduating class of 2026.

Mischievous because there are still toilet paper streamers hanging from some of the trees on campus. Inquisitive because they want to know why the world is the way it is - and why they have to follow a dress code.

"And they are loyal. Fiercely loyal," Bryant said. "I don't know that they know the things that I know, but what I know is that these students have each other's backs like no other class I have ever seen before."

The 28 students who graduated from WWVA on Sunday, June 7, challenged the junior class who will take their place as seniors later this year, to do the same.

Each year, seniors give a tribute and challenge to the junior class. This year's was delivered by Joy Willard and Julia Rittenbach.

"The longer I've been here, the more I've noticed that everybody is paying attention to how they're treated," Willard said. "Everybody remembers the teacher who believed in them, the friend who stuck around through hard times. Everybody remembers the comment someone made that stuck with them for way too long. What I've realized though, is that we're much less aware of the effect we have on other people."

Rittenbach said most people can tell you exactly how they've been treated by others but it's harder to recognize how other people feel after they've been around you, even though every interaction leaves an impression.

"Next year, this school will feel the way it does largely because of you," Rittenbach said. "The atmosphere of a place is built little by little by the thousands of choices about who gets included, who gets listened to and what kind of behavior becomes normal."

The two encouraged the upcoming seniors to pay attention to the people who are easily overlooked, to the impact their words have and to the opportunities to make the school more welcoming and inclusive.

"This extra attention may seem small in the moment but it ultimately forms the culture of the school," Willard said. "And as The Beatles put it, ‘The love you take is equal to the love that you make.'"

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 10:04 PM.