From Kindergarten to Valedictorian: Zackery Kahl's 13 Years at UTVA

Zackery Kahl has exactly one school on his transcript. He enrolled at Utah Virtual Academy as a kindergartner, and on May 22, he crossed the graduation stage as the Class of 2026 valedictorian, 13 years after he started.

That kind of continuity is rare in any school. At UTVA, where students come and go for all kinds of reasons, it is nearly unheard of. Three members of the Class of 2026 completed their entire K-12 education at the school. Zackery is one of them.

What 13 years looks like

Zackery grew up inside a virtual classroom. He learned to read there, learned algebra there, and learned how to lead there. By high school, he was serving as a student body officer and a member of the National Honor Society. Outside of UTVA, he competed in swim and track at his local high school, balancing athletics with a full academic load.

None of it happened automatically. Virtual school asks students to manage their own time, advocate for themselves, and stay engaged without the external structure a traditional school provides. Zackery did that for 13 consecutive years.

The lesson he took to the stage

At commencement, Zackery addressed his classmates as valedictorian. He did not talk about grades or test scores. He talked about what held the class together across different cities, different circumstances, and different paths to the same finish line.

“While we are all likely moving on with our lives after graduation, doing our own separate things and pursuing our own individual goals, we can always hold in our hearts that we gave high school our best effort and we learned the true values of hard work, compassion, and understanding.”

Zackery Kahl, Class of 2026 Valedictorian

Hard work, compassion, and understanding were not just things Zackery learned about at UTVA. They were things he practiced, every day, without anyone standing over him to make sure he did. For 13 years.

What comes next

This fall, Zackery will attend the University of Utah, where he plans to study business and psychology. His goal is to become an adolescent psychiatrist, a career that puts the same values he named at commencement directly to work for young people who need them.

Thirteen years is not an accident. It is a choice, made over and over again.

Utah Virtual Academy is enrolling full-time and part-time students for the 2026-27 school year. Learn more at utahvirtualacademy.org.

About Utah Virtual Academy

Utah Virtual Academy (UTVA) is a tuition-free, accredited online public charter school serving K-12 students across Utah. With flexible full-time and part-time enrollment options, live instruction from certified Utah teachers, and a curriculum aligned to state standards, UTVA provides personalized, high-quality education that meets students where they are. Learn more at utahvirtualacademy.org.