Brightest and Best is WXYZ's 47-year tradition of recognizing the academic achievements of graduating seniors from high schools across metro Detroit.
We are proud to publicly recognize Southeast Michigan high school graduates for their academic excellence. These young men and women earned their success and reached the top of their class.
See the 2026 Brightest and Best students and learn more about them in the profiles below
School Name | Student name and profile |
| Lapeer County | |
| Almont High School | Matthew Bacholzky |
| Dryden Senior High School | Cara Prusakiewicz |
| Imlay City High School | Hayley Thibodeaux |
| North Branch High School | Seth Wagner |
| Livingston County | |
| Brighton High School | Ari Hickman |
| Charyl Stockwell Preparatory Academy | Daniel Blaszczynski |
| Fowlerville High School | Maria Beach |
| Howell High School | Carly Molargik |
| Livingston Classical Academy | Andrew Manni |
| Macomb County | |
| Adlai E. Stevenson High School | Dron Datta |
| Chippewa Valley High School | |
| Clintondale High School | Kylie Violet |
| Dakota High School | Saturn Ostrowski |
| De La Salle Collegiate High School | Malcom Richardson |
| Eisenhower High School | John Murphy |
| Fitzgerald High School | Mikayla Gandy |
| Fraser High School | Lance Edghill |
| Henry Ford II High School | Layla Bajric |
| International Academy of Macomb | Nicklas Hooton |
| L'Anse Creuse High School | Jayden Evrard |
| L'Anse Creuse High School - North | Hailee Lane |
| Lake Shore High School | Teagan Klott |
| Lakeview High School | Isabelle Crouch |
| Lincoln High School | Amilliyon Crump |
| Lutheran High School North | Matthew Sehnert |
| Merritt Academy | Stephanie Broyles |
| Michigan Math and Science Academy | Wasif Khaja |
| New Haven High School | Corey Rivard |
| Parkway Christian School | Jack Morrish |
| Paul K. Cousino High School | Navi Wilcox - Smith |
| Regina High School | Caroline Marie Torey |
| Romeo High School | Andrew Roth |
| Roseville High School | Riham N. Sarar |
| South Lake High School | Oliver Spisak |
| Utica High School | Oscar Catarino |
| Warren Mott High School | Juliana Velez |
| Warren Woods Tower | Landon Chamberlain |
| Monroe County | |
| Milan High School | Zachary Weathers |
| Monroe High School | Joshua Bedner |
| St. Mary Catholic Central | Genavieve Craanen |
| Oakland County | |
| Academy of the Sacred Heart | Maria Juzych |
| AGBU Alex & Marie Manoogian School | Yuriy Bereza |
| Avondale High School | Vladislav Kabaev |
| Berkley High School | Lucas Carter |
| Bishop Foley Catholic High School | Natalie Skok |
| Bloomfield Hills High School | Adeline Sherman |
| Clarkston High School | Andrew Wilson |
| Cranbrook Kingswood School | Finnegan Duzan |
| Detroit Catholic Central High School | John Kiousis |
| Detroit Country Day School | Harshavardhan Narayan |
| Everest Collegiate High School | Armin Emmanuel Ramirez-Gomez |
| Farmington High School | Veer Kohli |
| Ferndale High School | Malina Mobley |
| Groves High School | |
| Holly High School | |
| International Academy - West Campus | Asahi Natsume |
| International Academy East | Sesha Sai Aasrith Modem |
| International Academy – Okma | Caitlyn Yoon |
| Lakeland High School | Jacob Edward Beck |
| Lake Orion High School | Alyssa Switek |
| Lamphere High School | Michael Aramouni |
| Marian High School | Madelyn Prantera |
| Mercy High School | Camilla Mendoza |
| Milford High School | Lily Hardin |
| Notre Dame Prep | Julia Lauren Pakkala |
| Novi Christian Academy | |
| Novi High School | Sanjana Ramesh |
| Oak Park High School | |
| Oakland Early College | Isaac Nordan |
| Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep | Luke Sallach |
| Our Lady of the Lakes | Kennidy Koshorek |
| Oxford High School | Jackson Nestorovski |
| Pontiac High School | Jamia Williams |
| Rochester High School | Gaeun Shin |
| Rochester Adams High School | Eda Nguyen |
| Royal Oak High School | Haneen Awada |
| Shrine Catholic High School | Natalie Lanfear |
| South Lyon High School | Nina Lewis |
| South Lyon East High School | Saghana Parasuraman |
| Southfield Christian School | Sarah Abazi |
| Stoney Creek High School | Siddh Sheth |
| St. Catherine of Siena Academy | Brooklyn Nafso |
| The Roeper School | Meira Gable |
| Troy High School | |
| University K-12 Academy | Kamryn Hurst |
| Walled Lake Central High School | Cody Wink |
| Walled Lake Northern High School | Margaret Lathwell |
| Walled Lake Western High School | Aankit Thapa |
| Waterford Kettering High School | Arabella Glass |
| Waterford Mott High School | Morgan Koskinen |
| West Bloomfield High School | Namya Garg |
| Sanilac County | |
| Carsonville-Port Sanilac High School | |
| Croswell-Lexington High School | Kaelyn Platko |
| Deckerville High School | |
| Peck High School | Charlotte Ferguson |
| Sandusky Senior High School | Macy LaJoie |
| St. Clair County | |
| Algonac High School | Jack Reyes |
| Anchor Bay High School | Baylie Smith |
| Capac Jr/Sr High School | Hugh Camire |
| Cardinal Mooney Catholic | Stella Behnan |
| Marysville High School | |
| Port Huron High School | Kelsey Rogers |
| Port Huron Northern High School | Quenton Pasia |
| St. Clair High School | Jackson Zhang |
| Yale High School | Quincy Favre |
| Washtenaw County | |
| Chelsea High School | Samantha Bieber |
| Dexter High School | Claire Beneteau |
| Fr. Gabriel Richard High School | Arianna Prezecki |
| Manchester High School | Avary Durussel |
| Saline High School | Caden Sparks |
| STEMM Middle College | Brandon Jones |
| Whitmore Lake High School | Tyler Dillman |
| Washtenaw Christian Academy | Abigail Rich |
| Ypsilanti AC Tech High School | |
| Wayne County | |
| Airport High School | Chloie Lemke |
| Advanced Technology Academy | Samai Gailliard |
| Allen Park High School | Lillian Murdoch |
| Annapolis High School | Fatima Algobay |
| Belleville High School | Cooper Mears |
| Cabrini High School | Colin Maffesoli |
| Canton High School | John Collins |
| Cesar Chavez Academy High School | Emmanuel Jimenez |
| Chandler Park Academy | Autumn Howard |
| Clarenceville High School | Devin Logan |
| Crestwood High School | Fatme Khalil |
| Dearborn High School | Hassan Murtada |
| Dearborn Edsel Ford High School | Jenna Habbal |
| Detroit Edison Public School Academy | |
| Divine Child High School | Rhett Cicotte |
| Ecorse Community High School | Angel Gonzalez-Martinez |
| Flat Rock Community High School | Kayla Laney |
| Fordson High School | Nour Makki |
| Franklin High School | Sara Teodor |
| Gabriel Richard Catholic High School | Theodore Campbell |
| Garden City High School | Mariam Safah |
| Grosse Ile High School | Bailey Kerr |
| Grosse Pointe North High School | Gavin M Perry |
| Harper Woods High School | Jordin Gaut |
| Henry Ford Academy | Antonio Malvaso |
| Hope Christian Academy | Titus Gorsegner |
| Huron High School | Nhi Vo |
| John Glenn High School | Calvin Hines |
| Lee M. Thurston High School | Nathaniel Hill |
| Lincoln Park High School | Aide Samano-Guzman |
| Lutheran High School Westland | Seth Witte |
| Martin Luther King Senior High School | Averie Robbins |
| Melvindale High School | Zahour Saied |
| Northville High School | Connor Feng |
| Oscar A. Carlson High School | Rocco Stoney |
| Plymouth High School | Amogh Marabille |
| Salem High School | Ayush Patel |
| Southgate Anderson High School | Abbiegayle Juco |
| Star International Academy | Layal Zien |
| Summit Academy North High School | Aaralynn Williams |
| Taylor Virtual Learning Academy | Mason Kendrick |
| Theodore Roosevelt High School | Eleanor Grant |
| Trenton High School | John Skinner |
| Universal Learning Academy | Lara Moussa |
| Universal Academy | Solaiman Saleh |
| University Prep Arts and Design High School | Heaven Tillman |
| University Liggett | Teresa Romanelli |
| Wayne Memorial High School | Tracy Phan |
| Winston Churchill High School | Alexander Good |
| Woodhaven High School | Yusuf Kapadia |
