EARLY – The Early High School graduation ceremony for the Class of 2025 will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, May 23 at the Brownwood Coliseum.

Kaden Bryan, son of Russ and Kendra Bryan, is the valedictorian while Harmonie Pittman, daughter of Patrick and Haley Bell, is the salutatorian.

“It was a culmination of all the work I put in throughout my high school career,” Bryan said of attaining the valedictorian honor. “A lot of what I do behind the scenes as far as homework or whatever is not seen because it’s something I do in my own time. It’s free time that I sacrificed to put in the work necessary so getting this title for me means seeing all that work come to fruition and actually manifest itself.”

Pittman said of earning the salutatorian accolade, “A lot of the little bit of extra that I push myself with, just adding a little bit extra here and there, that changed my grade maybe one or two points and shows how it does actually pay off. The hard work and the value I put on myself is paying off to where I see myself and where I felt I deserve to be. The sense of purpose really drove me to make sure I stayed on top of my stuff and I was responsible about it, and I did everything I needed to do to get me where I am today.”

The immediate future for Bryan will consist of attending Texas Tech to major in Bio-Chemistry with a minor in Computer Science with a goal of pursuing a doctorate in Computational Biology.

“For me, research is something I’ve always enjoyed and been passionate about,” Bryan said. “Discovering something new is something I’ve wanted to do since middle school or maybe even elementary.”

Pittman is headed to Howard Payne University in the fall to major in Accounting and minor in Pr-Law, then after graduation there attend the University of Texas to finish her Law degree.

“I want to go into tax law and accounting, do CPA certification and all that,” Pittman said. “I’m very big on wanting to help other people and very engaged in politics and an opinionated person. I know someone that is currently writing legislation in D.C. for AI and he did the exact same career path I am. I used to think I wanted to be in the medical field but I realized that’s not for me and not how I want to help people. I’m very much invested in how the economy and stocks and the stock market all work. I like systems and to see how it works. To know I can better someone financially and make them comfortable for the rest of their lives is really big.”

Both Bryan and Pittman considered Frank Ritter and Brittany Dunlap to be “two of the most influential people in my life.”

Pittman said, “Mr. Ritter got me very much into numbers and understanding you can try again. I took Advanced Chemistry under him, and that was one of the hardest classes I ever took, and he would give you a chance to redeem yourself. You get the opportunities, he gives you all the study material, you just have to take advantage of it.

“With Ms. Dunlap, she’s a big reason I have a sense of self worth and purpose when it comes to what I want to do in my life. She teaches Government and Economics, which are the things I’m going into. A big part of that is because of how much she pushed that I am capable of doing that and it’s my decision if I want to make it. All the opportunities are right there, it’s just how you utilize it.”

Bryan added, “Ms. Dunlap is the duct tape that holds our class together. We had a lot faculty change this year and she’s someone that’s been a rock in this time, for me at least.

“Mr. Ritter is really special to me because he was our sixth-grade science teacher and moved out to the high school and really helped inspire and instill that love of research I was talking about, that passion. He put me on an HPU program that allowed me to get hands-on experience with researching. He’s been very influential in my life and he’s just an incredible person and I’ve very grateful to have him as a teacher.”

Regarding how Early has prepared the honor graduates for the next level of education, Pittman said, “Ms. Bearden, our counselor, did a lot to help me understand what college looks like and how it’s not as scary as I thought it was. I have a better understanding of what the world is going to look like outside of Early High School and not be terrified to leave Early High School.”

Bryan said, “There’s the practical side where they have AP classes and the chance to have those credits going into college, but I feel like Early has also given me some values and ideals that I’m going to be able to take forward. Being in the band and theatre programs here helped me learn how to fit in with a new group of people and put myself out there in a way I wasn’t really comfortable with doing before. In that way I know I’ll be able to thrive in college because I have that experience.”

Bryan was a member of the 2024 state championship one-act play team from Early, and served as drum major his senior year, along with taking part in Future Problem Solvers.

Pittman was a member of Student Council, National Honor Society, Academic UIL and Future Problem Solvers.