{"id":22544,"date":"2026-06-01T10:07:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=22544"},"modified":"2026-06-01T10:07:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:07:49","slug":"twin-sisters-make-high-school-history-graduating-as-valedictorian-and-salutatorian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2026\/06\/twin-sisters-make-high-school-history-graduating-as-valedictorian-and-salutatorian.html","title":{"rendered":"Twin Sisters Make High School History Graduating as Valedictorian and Salutatorian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Courtesy of Academy of the Holy Names<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twin sisters from Florida are inspiring people nationwide after making history at their Catholic high school by graduating as valedictorian and salutatorian in the same class.<\/p>\n

Adriana and Alyssa Lyons, 18-year-old twins from Tampa, just graduated from the Academy of the Holy Names. School officials say they are the first twins in the school\u2019s 144-year history to earn the top two academic honors together.<\/p>\n

The sisters\u2019 achievement is impressive, but what moves many people even more is how they always credit their faith, family, service, and each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a special moment for our school community,\u201d principal Jeane McNamara said. \u201cAdriana and Alyssa exemplify what it means to be Academy women \u2014 intellectually curious, compassionate, faith-filled, and committed to serving others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The twins have been at the Academy of the Holy Names since kindergarten and made headlines years ago when they graduated from eighth grade as co-valedictorian and co-salutatorian.<\/p>\n

After years of hard work, they stood in front of more than 1,000 people at their graduation ceremony in Tampa and gave speeches that moved parents and teachers to tears.<\/p>\n

Adriana, the valedictorian, encouraged her classmates to face the future with confidence, even if it feels uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I still cannot fully see what comes next, I no longer fear what I cannot see,\u201d she said during her speech. \u201cAnd what I can see is a room filled with intelligent, ambitious women fully capable of changing lives, leading fearlessly, and getting out there and killing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alyssa, the salutatorian, spoke about the people who helped shape her journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can confidently say that I would not be the person I am today without every single person in this room,\u201d she told the crowd.<\/p>\n

Their mother, Jonna Lyons, said parents came up to her afterward in tears, and school leaders called the speeches some of the best they had ever heard.<\/p>\n

The sisters\u2019 achievements went beyond academics. Adriana and Alyssa each completed over 500 hours of community service, volunteering at a hospice center, interning at a children\u2019s hospital, and joining a mission trip to Guatemala to help build homes and deliver supplies to families in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could just see the joy on these kids\u2019 faces, still in the midst of their poverty, was really eye-opening,\u201d Alyssa said about the Guatemala trip. \u201cIt changed our perspective on a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, the twins earned about $287,000 in scholarships and merit awards and were accepted to several top universities, including the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n

In the end, they decided to stay together and attend the University of Florida, where both will join the honors program and major in chemistry before heading to medical school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely knew that we wanted to go to the same school,\u201d Alyssa said.<\/p>\n

For Adriana, one of the best parts of this journey has been sharing it with her sister.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the greatest gifts of the Academy was learning that success is never something you achieve alone,\u201d Adriana said. \u201cHaving my twin sister beside me throughout this journey has been incredibly special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alyssa agreed, saying her sister always encouraged her during tough times.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has always pushed me to work harder, think bigger, and believe in myself even during the moments I doubted myself,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have spent our whole lives pushing each other to be better, and I cannot imagine this journey without her beside me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a culture that often celebrates individual success above everything else, the Lyons sisters show a different example, one based on faith, humility, service, and the power of supporting each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twin sisters from Florida are inspiring people nationwide after making history at their Catholic high school by graduating as valedictorian and salutatorian in the same class. Adriana and Alyssa Lyons, 18-year-old twins from Tampa, just graduated from the Academy of the Holy Names. School officials say they are the first twins in the school\u2019s 144-year…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":22553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nTwin Sisters Make High School History Graduating as Valedictorian and Salutatorian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Twin sisters made history at a Florida Catholic school after graduating as valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2026.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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