ZEPHYR – The Zephyr High School graduation ceremony for the Class of 2026 will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, May 22 at the Zephyr ISD Gymnasium.

Tylee Lewis, daughter of Ty and Christy Lewis, is the valedictorian, while Aaron Fagan, son of Brandon and Joanie Fagan, is the salutatorian.

Lewis said of earning the valedictorian accolade, “Being at a small school it’s not like you just do academics, people are involved in everything. So to be able to juggle academics on top of athletics or other extracurriculars is definitely something to be proud of.”

Regarding the keys to reaching the top of her class, Lewis said, “Time management, especially being in a small school with all the things that everyone’s in. You really have to figure out when you have time to do what. My best advice to people about wanting to be at the top is knowing how to get there when it comes to how you make time for that, so find a schedule that works best for you.”

Fagan said of achieving the status of salutatorian, “I came here in eighth grade and it was a pretty small class so my expectations were pretty high. It feels pretty good knowing we worked hard, we do multiple activities and just don’t sit in a classroom. Being involved in so much, we worked our tails off but we were successful and able to be at the top.”

Fagan also offered advice to those looking to reach the top of their class, stating, “Always work hard. Even though it’s a small school and you think you can slack off because there’s only 10 of us, always take it seriously every year and don’t wait until the last minute to try and get your grades back up. Starting from your freshman year, take it seriously and try your hardest.”

Lewis is bound for Texas A&M where she will pursue a degree in Education with plans to become a teacher.

“I grew up an Aggie,” Lewis said. “My dad played basketball at Tarleton, which is a sister school. That’s how I grew up. We went to games, that’s what was on TV. That’s why I really pushed to be first in my class to get to A&M. My dad was a teacher and my grandmother was also in the education system, and my mom works with kids, too, as the director of the Sweeten Home of Children, which is for foster kids. It’s always something I’ve been around, then having the educators we do here really helped push me.”

Fagan, who this past Saturday won the Class 1 A state championship in the boys 3200 meters, will be attending Sterling College in Kansas on a cross country and track scholarship and intends to major in pre-law criminal justice.

“I wanted to be an agricultural lawyer for a while, but I also wanted to be involved with the law,” Fagan said. “I looked around and saw oil and gas attorneys and that interested me so I looked at Sterling and saw they had pre-law as one of the majors and chose that. After Sterling, I plan to go to Texas Tech for law school.”

Along with track and cross country, Fagan also participated in UIL academics, one-act play, FFA creed speaking and was a member of the livestock judging team.

Prior to her senior year, Lewis took part all sports with the exception of tennis, and competed in FCCLA.

As for going from Zephyr to college, Lewis said, “There’s actually more students in College Station than there are places to live, so going from having 10 kids in our class to I don’t want to know how many will be in my freshman class at A&M, it’s definitely going to be an adjustment and something that is scary. But with the foundations Zephyr sets us up with, I feel like we can go and accomplish anything. That’s the mindset they’ve given us. If we put our mind to it, we can accomplish it.”

Fagan added with a laugh, “My college is pretty small so it’s not going to be a whole lot different.”

Each student cited multiple teachers that have helped them through their education journeys thus far.

“Ms. (Laci) Russell has always pushed us,” Lewis said. ‘We were her first class, we were freshmen when she started teaching here so she’s been through all of it with us and just pushed us to do better. I got a scholarship that she made me apply for. She didn’t give me an option, and I didn’t think I going to get it coming from small Zephyr, Texas, but I was actually awarded the scholarship. Ms. (Jennifer) Cozart, she’s been our math teacher since seventh grade. She’s always been super supportive even when we did dual credit Algebra last semester, she was such a big help. When we passed our final, she brought us all drinks from Starbucks. Ms. (Brenda) Tunnell helped a lot with dual credit courses, she’s our counselor and stayed on us about it. And then there’s Ms. (Kenna) Rohrbach and Ms. (Marie) Algiere.”

Fagan added, “Coach (Curtis Hurst) has been my math teacher for a little bit, he’s been my cross country coach the last few years. He’s definitely pushed me to a better runner. When I first came here I wasn’t the best, and with his coaching he helped me a lot. Ms. Russell’s been there for me, done a lot of me with her teaching, and she’s even been on Ag trips. Mr. (Don) Fowler came as our Ag teacher this year and he’s just been a phenomenal person in my life, even though it was only one year, he made a big impact. And my English teacher Ms. (Hope) Barron helped me a lot with finding scholarships as well as preparing me for the real world.”