TAMPA, Fla. — The graduation audience for a Catholic high school in west-central Florida could be forgiven for doing a double-take.
At the top of the Class of 2026 at Tampa’s Academy of the Holy Names are Adriana Lyons and her identical twin sister, Alyssa Lyons. Adriana is the valedictorian at the all-girls school, while Alyssa is the salutatorian, WTSP reported.
The sisters were among 112 seniors who went through commencement ceremonies on Tuesday at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa.
If this seems like a rerun, it is. The 18-year-old sisters have attended the private school since kindergarten and were the top two students when they graduated from the eighth grade in 2022, the school wrote in a news release.
In an Instagram post, the Academy of the Holy Names stated that it was believed to be the first time in the school’s 144-year history that twins graduated in the same high school class as valedictorian and salutatorian.
“Having my twin sister beside me throughout this journey has been incredibly special,” Adriana Lyons told People. “We have always pushed each other to work harder, dream bigger, and become better versions of ourselves.”
“One of the greatest gifts of the Academy was learning that success is never something you achieve alone,” Adriana Lyons said. “The friendships, faith, and support system we built here shaped who I am just as much as any academic accomplishment.”
During their time at the school, the twins logged more than 1,000 hours of community service, WTSP reported. That included a weeklong trip to Guatemala for international mission work during their junior year, the school said.
The sisters also interned under child life specialists at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital last summer, People reported.
During her speech on Tuesday night, Adriana shrugged off jitters and delivered words of hope to the crowd of more than 1,000 spectators.
“Although I still cannot fully see what comes next, I no longer fear what I cannot see,” Adriana said. “And 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.”
Moments earlier, Alyssa told the graduating class that “I can confidently say that I would not be the person I am today without every single person in this room.”
“This is such a special moment for our school community,” Principal Jeane McNamara told People. “Adriana and Alyssa exemplify what it means to be Academy women -- intellectually curious, compassionate, faith-filled, and committed to serving others.”
The sisters learned they had clinched the top spots in their class during their junior year at the school, People reported.
“I was surprised at first when I first found out,” Adriana told the magazine.
During her senior year, she said she simply focused on that “consistency.”
The school said that the sisters were collectively awarded approximately $287,000 in scholarship offers and merit awards.
The Lyons sisters are planning to pursue degrees in chemistry at the University of Florida honors program, WFLA reported.
They chose to attend school in Gainesville, but were also accepted at Wake Forest, the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia, “Today” reported.
“We definitely knew that we wanted to go to the same school,” Alyssa Lyons told People.
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