2025–2026 Excellence in Vestavia Hills

 

 

Class of 2026 Overview

VHHS Endorsements

• Advanced Academic with Honors: 327 seniors will graduate with the endorsement on their high school diplomas.

 

National Merit

• 24 National Merit Finalists — the highest number from any individual high school in Alabama this year, and the highest at VHHS since 2006.
• 10 National Merit Commended Students

 

Post-Graduate Plans

• 86% will attend four-year colleges and universities
• 7% will attend two-year colleges
  • 22% will enroll in 65 different colleges/universities outside Alabama across 24 states and D.C.
  • Those staying in Alabama will enroll in 21 different institutions
• 7% will enter the military, work full-time, or take a gap year
• 76% of graduates were offered scholarships — more than $45 million offered and more than $19 million accepted

 

 

 

Academic and Extracurricular Accomplishments

Advanced Placement

1,574 Advanced Placement exams were administered to 680 students.

 

World Language / Seal of Biliteracy

The Class of 2026 had the highest number of Seal of Biliteracy recipients in the history of the VHHS Seal program. Thirty percent of our seniors earned the Seal of Biliteracy this year.

 

173 students earned the Seal in eleven different languages: American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Spanish, and Swahili.

 

Math Team

Our three math teams each won the state championship, marking the 37th for Geometry, 36th for Algebra II, and 30th for Comprehensive. The math team won almost every category at the College of Charleston tournament, placed first in a regional competition, and placed second in an international competition.

 

Speech and Debate

The Speech and Debate Team won the State Championship for the 5th consecutive year — meaning these seniors never experienced a state title loss during their high school careers.

 

Economics Team

The VHHS Economics Team placed 1st in the National Economics Challenge state finals for the 4th consecutive year. Three teams qualified to compete, and the top two teams in the state were both from VHHS.

 

• State champion team (qualified for national semi-finals): Pratul Danasekar, Jack Hugunine, Krish Chintareddy, Vaughan Milliman
• State runner-up team: Tina Gao, Adi Sheelavant, Eric Wang, Jeffery Zhao
• Also qualifying for state finals: Chethan Mallempati, Daniel McCormick, Matthew Rand, John Lee Wimberly
• Individual high scorers (tied): Vaughan Milliman, Adi Sheelavant, Eric Wang

 

The VHHS Economics Team also won the National Personal Finance Challenge State Finals for the 4th consecutive year, with the top two teams again from VHHS.

 

• Individual high scorers (tied with perfect scores): Connor Moorehouse, Chethan Mallempati, Jason Murong, Adam Zhao
• First place team (qualified for national finals in Atlanta): Pratul Danasekar, Jack Hugunine, Krish Chintareddy, Ryaan Singh

 

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)

VHHS FBLA members competed at the Alabama State Leadership Conference in April, earning the opportunity to represent Alabama at the FBLA National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, TX.

 

• Kaylee Zhao — 1st Place, Data Analysis
• Sofia Ye — 3rd Place, Introduction to Marketing Concepts
• Astha Mehta, Audrey Kim, and Kaylee Zhao — 4th Place, Community Service Project
• Emily Jin — 4th Place, Economics
• Kaylee Zhao was also elected Alabama FBLA Secretary for 2026–2027

 

Youth Legislature

• Sarah Lane Smith’s bill was special ordered, passed both the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Youth Governor.
• Veronica Zhang and Zachary Diamond were named delegates to the Conference on National Affairs in Black Mountain, NC.
• Sarah Lane Smith was named 8th alternate and Everette (Rett) Kline was named 12th alternate out of more than 400 students.

 

Mock Trial

Two teams of six students qualified through a regional tournament for State. Team “Bass” — Aadi Agrawal, Connor Moorhouse, Dev Patel, Julian Aldana, Divya Ramani, and Kaylee Zhao — was State Runner-Up, earning a spot in the final trial at the Alabama Supreme Court and a bid to the National Judicial Competition. Libby Soong was named an outstanding attorney and Kaylee Zhao was named an outstanding witness.

 

 

 

Arts Accomplishments

This year brought exceptional artistic achievement across disciplines. Our Theatre program was selected as one of only 12 schools nationwide to pilot the teen edition of SUFFS: The Musical. 40 band and choir students earned All-State recognition. The Rebelette dance teams secured both state and national titles. We are proud to recognize 142 graduating seniors who earned the Arts Achievement Seal, many of whom are also members of national arts honor societies.

 

 

 

Philanthropy

AP with WE Service

• 69 senior students completed requirements for AP with WE Service certification.
• Students collected 200 boxes of books donated to 6 community partners, including Books to Prisons, Banks Academy, the WISE Institute, and Better Basics.
• Students created 2 new projects: a sports equipment drive for the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club and organized activity nights for residents at Town Village and Longleaf.

 

Youth Leadership

• 1,332 students participated in a record 78 RISE Teams.
• Students raised $217,322 for the O’Neal Cancer Center at UAB through service and community involvement.
• Youth Leadership students accumulated more than 5,000 service hours.

 

 

 

Athletic Report

As of May 13, 2026 — Vestavia Hills High School fields 27 athletic teams. 26 of 27 teams qualified for postseason play.

 

Team State Placement

 

Individual State Champions

• Boys Tennis: Andrew Pipkin (1 Singles), Austin Hood (2 Singles), Andrew Pipkin & JB Harris (2 Doubles)
• Girls Tennis: Anvitha Yaparla & Clare Mitchell (3 Doubles)
• Boys Indoor Track: JT Hayes (3200m, 1600m); Vaughan Rainer (Ambulatory Shot Put, Ambulatory 60m); 4x800m Relay — Jackson Mize, Ethan Meadows, Davis Witt, JT Hayes
• Girls Indoor Track: Riley Zeanah (400m); 4x800m Relay — Kate McKinnon, Grace Won, Riley Zeanah, Abby Allen
• Boys Outdoor Track: JT Hayes (1600m)

 

Student Award Highlights

• Football: Charlie Taffe — All-State QB
• Boys Soccer: Halden Honeycutt — 1st Team All-Metro, Kiwanis Club Player of the Year, Gatorade Player of the Year finalist; Will Davis — 1st Team All-Metro; Jack Hugunine — 2nd Team All-Metro
• Girls Soccer: Katie Llewellyn — 1st Team All-Metro; Brianna Tortorici — 1st Team All-Metro; Payton Ellis — 2nd Team All-Metro
• Volleyball: Millie Burgess — AL.com Super All-State, All-South Metro Player of the Year, Class 7A 1st Team; Marley Cowan — All-South Metro 1st Team; Lillie Hill — 2026 North All-Star Roster; Claire Ogden — All-South Metro 2nd Team
• Cross Country — Boys All-State: Jackson Mize, Ethan Meadows, Mason Thompson, Daniel Johnson, JT Hayes
• Cross Country — Girls All-State: AJ Litty, Abby Allen
• Flag Football: Julia Rose — Ms. Football, MaxPreps National Player of the Week; Alexis Rubin, Gabby Lamaster, Molly Mac Sharp — AL.com Players of the Week
• Boys Basketball: Johnny Towry — 7A 3rd Team All-State, All-South Metro 2nd Team
• Cheer All-Americans: Sutton Williams, Reese Schmidt, Harper McGill, Lucy Banta, Ann Adele Allen, Tristan Nelson

 

Students Continuing Their Athletic Careers

• Baseball: Gavin Smith (Southern Miss), Wilson Szymela (West Alabama), Cooper Anderson (Mississippi College), Jacob Harris (Northwest Shoals), Cross Tonsmeire (Shelton State), Capp Trimm (Lawson State)
• Girls Bowling: Meghan Garrison (Alabama A&M)
• Cross Country/Track: Ethan Meadows (Wheaton College), JT Hayes (University of Kentucky), Abby Allen (Mississippi College)
• Flag Football: Julia Rose (North Alabama), Chloe Leahy (Shelton State), Alexis Rubin (Cumberland University)
• Boys Golf: Clarke Brown (NC State University)
• Girls Golf: Elizabeth Haughery (University of South Alabama)
• Boys Soccer: Halden Honeycutt (USC Upstate), Mason McDaniel (Millsaps College)
• Volleyball: Millie Burgess (Tulane University)

 

 

 

Notable Programs

1Rebel Productions Student Internship

22 students in grades 9–12 participated in the 1Rebel Productions student media internship program, specializing in A/V Production or PR/Marketing.

 

• A/V Production interns logged more than 800 hours supporting school events, managing the videoboard, music, and lighting in the stadium and gym, and producing more than 20 live broadcasts.
• PR/Marketing interns created more than 25 videos and photographed more than 40 school events.
• Notable highlights: Kathryn Ellis’s work was featured in the Over the Mountain Journal; Noah Oswald’s photography from SUFFS is set to appear in an upcoming theatre publication; Hayden Perry earned 1st Place in Creative Video at the Alabama Scholastic Press Association state convention.

 

Coaches for Character

This professional development curriculum, produced by VHCS Athletics and Samford University, has equipped nearly 75 VHCS coaches with tools to lead discussions on character development, core values, adolescent brain development, connection, discipline, and leadership. Coaches attend four professional development days over the year and work with child development experts to better understand their student athletes.