The Sidney Central School District has named its valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2026.
The valedictorian is Dejah Taylor, and the salutatorian is Michael Morrissey.
The two will speak during the annual graduation ceremony Saturday, June 27.
Valedictorian
Dejah Taylor has excelled in and out of the classroom.
Academically, she has been consistently on the superintendent’s list, and has earned awards for academic excellence and achievement including the Elmira College Scholarship and the RPI Scholarship. She also earned the DAR Citizenship Award, and has been named a NYSPHSAA scholar-athlete and the MAC scholar-athlete multiple times.
Outside of the classroom, she serves as National Honor Society president, and the vice-president for student council. She’s also vice-president for Sidney Students Against Destructive Decisions, is in the yearbook club, and has been part of the Teen Institute.
Athletically, Taylor has excelled in field hockey and indoor and outdoor track and field. She represents Sidney and the section as a Section IV States Sportsmanship Representative, and a winner of the Section IV Character Counts award. She’s been the WCDO Athlete of the Week, won the Douglas Quinney Award, the Triple C Award, and has been an all-star in field hockey and track. She’s also won multiple Section IV, Class, and MAC championships in a variety of events. She owns several school records.
She also serves as SFCU’s school ambassador.
Beyond graduation, Taylor plans to attend the Binghamton University School of Management, and compete on the Division I track and field team.
She is the daughter of Stacey Sullivan and Antoine Taylor.
Salutatorian
Michael Morrissey is an active student, thriving in both the classroom and on the sports fields.
His has been a steady name on the district’s superintendent’s list, and has earned academic awards such as the RIT Engineering scholarship and the Rochester Junior scholarship, and is a MAC scholar-athlete. He was chosen to attend Boys State, he’s been a NYSPHSAA scholar-athlete, and has earned student of the month recognition.
A member of the National Honor Society, he also is active in SSADD, InterAct, and was part of the Science Olympiad.
Last year, Morrissey won the Class C state championship in discus during the outdoor track and field season, and has also earned MAC and Section IV championships. He participates in football and indoor and outdoor track and field. He’s earned accolades as MVP for track and field, a sportsmanship award for football, and WCDO athlete of the week honors.
Beyond high school, he plans to be a foreign exchange student to Chile, and then attend college to become a mechanical engineer.
He is the son of Tanya and Mark Morrissey.
