A room, and a livestream, full of pride.

On graduation night, Uchenna Academy celebrated ten graduates who earned every moment of it. Families filled the room, friends and relatives watched from home around the world, and for one evening the building that began life as a century-old gear factory became something closer to a family reunion.

The evening featured four addresses, from our Principal, Vice Principal and Coach.

Principal McNee grounded his remarks in the four words Uchenna was built on: discipline, persistence, integrity, and loyalty. He spoke to each graduate individually, naming the moment that captured the young man he’d become. He reminded the Class of 2026 that a diploma means something only when the work behind it is real, and that in a transactional world, loyalty – to your people and your mission – is the glue that holds everything together. “Uchenna is not just a school,” he told them, “but a family.”

Claudia returned to a word: family. Quoting the school’s saying — “School exposes what the home allows” – she traced each graduate’s character back to the homes and parents who shaped it, and celebrated the international journeys that brought so many of these young men to Toronto from Congo, Kenya, Ukraine, France, and beyond.

The graduates

Our Class of 2026: Anthony, Grayson, Diego, Loris, Johan, Sekou, Hamza, Illya, Mamadou, and Myles.

Their paths reflect everything Uchenna stands for – students who arrived from across the city and around the world, pushed each other through 6:00am training and full academic course loads, and are now headed onward. Among them, Diego is bound for the University of La Verne in California, where he’ll bring the same curiosity that carried his writing “from Senegal to geopolitics to outer space.”

End-of-year awards

The Ricardo Keane Scholarship Award — our hard-work award, named for a quiet, ever-present supporter of the school, went, in a rare tie, to Myles and Johan, who both embody the principles Mr. Keane lives by.

Student of the Year — Loris, for his quiet excellence, independent learning, and the example he sets arriving first every morning.

Student-Athlete of the Year — Grayson, decided by a slim student-body vote after a three-way faculty tie.

Athlete of the Year — Mamadou, also decided by his peers.

Diplomas came with further distinctions:

• Ontario Scholars: Anthony, Loris, and Illya
• Scoring Champion: Grayson
• MVP: Sekou
• Teammate of the Year: Mamadou, who also earned the Minister’s Certificate of Recognition for Community Involvement (Silver Level) for 171 volunteer hours

Carrying the light forward

Claudia closed the evening by returning to the family at the very heart of the school. Uchenna Academy is named in honour of Uchenna Odi, a university student whose life was taken too soon in 2006. At his funeral, his father spoke words the school still carries:

“As the glow of the descending sun lights up the mountain peak long after the sun itself has sunk behind the hills, so the works of the pure and the good shed light upon the world long after the actors themselves have passed on.”

Every student who walks through our doors carries that light forward. This year’s graduates carry it now.

Then came the moment they’d worked toward: tassels moved from right to left, caps in the air.

Congratulations, Class of 2026. Once a Uchenna student, always part of the family — our doors will always be open to you.

Watch the Full Ceremony: Lievstream

View the Ceremony Itinerary HERE.