Evergreen Park Community High School Taps Valedictorian and Salutatorian For Class Of 2026

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Evergreen Park Evergreen Park Community High School has named the valedictorian and salutatorian from the class of 2026. Grace Koziczkowski will be the valedictorian, and Tess Lee has been selected as salutatorian. Both will deliver speeches during the EPCHS class of 2026 graduation ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, inside the Evergreen Park Community High School gymnasium.

In addition to excelling academically, both Koziczkowski and Lee have exemplified the Evergreen Park Mustang spirit through their involvement in athletics and extracurricular activities.

Koziczkowski has been a multi-sport athlete during her time at EPCHS having competed in volleyball, dance and cross country. She’s also been a member of the student government, National Honor Society, service club and prom committee.

She will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and major in biology on the pre-med track. After completing her undergrad at UIUC, Koziczkowski plans on continuing her education and going to medical school, eventually hoping to become a doctor.

Koziczkowski will remember Kevin Knapik, an EPCHS science teacher, among her most influential instructors, crediting Knapik’s biology class as one of the reasons she chose to major in the biology field.

“I had Mr. Knapik my freshman year and senior year for biology,” Koziczkowski said. “He is a teacher who genuinely loves his job and loves helping his students and a person who will care about you regardless if he is your teacher or not, and I think that is so important.”

Lee has also been involved in numerous endeavors outside of the classroom at EPCHS. She’s competed on the regional champion varsity volleyball team and additional after-school involvement in student government, National Honor Society, principal’s advisory, Advice Beyond the Classroom, Battle of the Books and the school’s Future Business Leaders of America club.

She will attend Villanova University in the fall with a goal to become a personal injury lawyer.

Lee’s favorite EPCHS teacher is Dan Truffa, an English instructor.

“Mr. Truffa pushed me to build the confidence and resilience to not let failure make me give up,” Lee said. “He helped me understand how to persevere past obstacles academically, and truly assisted me in becoming a much better writer.”
Both Koziczkowski and Lee attended Southwest Elementary School and Central Middle Schoolprior to enrolling at EPCHS.