EARLY – The Early High School Class of 2026 graduation ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, May 22 at the Brownwood Coliseum.

Brooklyn Guthery, daughter of Blake and Jennifer Guthery, is the valedictorian for Early, while Logan Key, son of Larry and Megan Key, is this year’s salutatorian.

Guthery said of earning the valedictorian accolade, “It means a lot to me, especially because my sister is a freshman. It means a lot to set an example for her and the other kids here. I try my best to be a good role model when it comes to grades and extracurricular activities. I haven’t really moved very much at all since my freshman year when we got our transcripts, so I wasn’t necessarily surprised, but I was definitely honored.”

Key was caught off guard to learn he finished as the salutatorian, stating, “When I first got here I was class ranked 13th and I jumped through the class ranks throughout high school. I thought I was going to finish third when they announced it, but it was a huge surprise to be No. 2. It also means a lot to me cause I also have a younger brother and it’s great to set an example for him. It’s also a huge honor to be able to represent Early and the high academic status they have here.”

Guthery is bound for the University of Texas to pursue a degree in Biology before attending medical school.

“I already have my Associates from Ranger, but I’m going to get my Bachelors in Biology, then hopefully I can go to medical school,” Guthery said. “Then I plan on being an emergency physician. I chose UT mainly because of academics, and also my sister’s an A&M fan so I had to be different. I want to be an emergency physician because my dad’s in emergency medicine as a firefighter. I wanted to do something similar, and I enjoy helping people. I’ve been blessed to do an internship at Hendrick in the ER and I really loved it and being able to work with the people out there.”

Key is staying close to home and will attend Howard Payne University, with his sights set on becoming a youth minister.

“I’m going to be attending Howard Payne University to get a degree in Christian education,” Key said. “I visited Howard Payne and really loved it. I just really feel like God is calling me to youth ministry, and they have a really good youth ministry program at Howard Payne. I’m really pumped about it.”

Guthery and Key each stated they felt Early High School has started them on a path to be extremely successful in college.

“Early has offered me specifically a bunch of opportunities to do stuff that I didn’t think was possible,” Guthery said. “I mentioned the internship with Hendrick, I did that through the school and my Health Science class. That’s given me real world experience in the career I’m interested in, and I think that has definitely helped me know what I want to focus on when I get to college.”

Key added, “The teachers and the way they teach their curriculum really sticks with you. I feel like that’s really good for college. They’re always pushing you to do your best in everything and that’s something you definitely need for college, you can’t slack off.”

Both students took part in a plethora of extracurricular activities during their time at Early High School.

“I’ve been involved in Student Council, right now I’m the Student Council president, and I was also in Honor Society and a student athletic trainer for three years,” Guthery said. “I really loved that, I was involved in both football and baseball.”

“I’ve played football and baseball, ran track, and then I was also part of Student Council and Honor Society,” Key said. “We’re both a part of Future Problem Solvers, and then I was a part of One-Act Play for one year.”

Reflecting on favorite teachers, both cited Brittany Dunlap, among others.

“My favorite teacher is Ms. Dunlap,” Guthery said. “I have been with her since my freshman year because she’s in charge of Student Council. She’s also done our U.S. History, Government, Economics and our FPS, so we’re with her a lot. She’s been a really great teacher and I’m really blessed to have her. I also want to mention Doc Palmer.”

Key said, “I also have to go with Ms. Dunlap. She’s truly one of a kind and such a great teacher. She truly cares about her students and puts 100 percent into everything. I also want to give a shout tout to Ms. Sisemore.”

As for what they will miss most about Early High School, Guthery stated, “The relationships I’ve made. I’ve met lot of people here. It’s not a huge school so you grow pretty close with the ones you’re around. In the courses and the extracurriculars we’re in, it’s a lot of the same people so you get really close with them. I’ve gotten to know them really well and this year specifically feels like I’ve had a lot of really close friends that I’m going to be upset to leave.”

Key responded by stating, “I’m going to have to agree with both the relationships with the students and the teachers. We’re so close knit, across ages we hang out, we’re involved in stuff together, and it’s been really cool to grow with the other students and hang out with the teachers, too, throughout this year.”

When it came to predicting their lives by age 30, both were unsure of what they future may hold for them.

“At 30, I hope to have a relatively established career,” Guthery said. “I know with education, it takes a while to be a physician. I don’t really know aside from that, that’s pretty far in the future.”

Key chimed in, “I hope to be working for a church by that point, and raising a family. I’m not really sure what God has planned for me.”

Each student wanted to extend a final thank you to those who helped them on their educational journeys thus far.

Guthery said, “I definitely want to thank my parents for being the ones to push me the way they did, and also be the ones to take me to school and my extracurriculars for so long, and just be huge supporters of my academics and everything I’ve been involved in.”

Key added, “I also want to thank my parents and also my grandmother (Betty Higgins) for being there for me and pushing me so hard and knowing my potential and really pushing me to be my best. I’m also going to have to thank Ms. Dunlap for carrying my high school education throughout, because I truly wouldn’t have passed some classes without her.”