Daniel Vinegrad, a student environmental activist, and Dhara Jost, president of the National Honor Society and a multi-sport athlete, have been named co-valedictorians of Coronado High School’s 2026 graduating class.
Morgan Maske, heading to Pennsylvania as a college dual-sport athlete, was selected as salutatorian.
After four years of balancing academics, sports and extracurriculars, these Coronado High School seniors learned on May 18 they are among this year’s top students.
“Our class is insanely talented, so I really wasn’t expecting it, but it was a great honor,” said Jost. “It was definitely a surprise.”
Maske, who had won the CIF championship game with her lacrosse team two days before, said she felt very proud.
“My hands were shaking a little bit because it was just such an exciting thing that had happened,” recalled Maske of the day she learned of the recognition.
Kristen Ereno, the district’s lead counselor, said weighted GPAs and other factors are taken into consideration in the calculation to determine the valedictorians and salutatorian.
According to Ereno, final GPAs are processed on June 4.
“It was a shock, but at the same time it’s just an incredible honor,” said Vinegrad. “I’m incredibly grateful and it’s just validating to think that years of hard work have paid off.”
Stanford Engineering
Vinegrad said he hopes people remember him for standing up to protect the environment and making a difference in Coronado.
“Anyone can leave footprints as they move through life as proof that they were there and achieve success,” said Vinegrad. “But the people who have a legacy are the ones who make paths for other people to follow.”
In the last four years, Vinegrad, 17, completed over 500 service hours as an instructor at Blue Wave Surf School, interned for the Emerald Keepers conservation group, and served as an active member of the Junior Optimist Club as well as the Architecture and Design Club.
The Stop the Sewage club Vinegrad founded was recognized as “Student Club of the Year” for the third consecutive year in May.
Vinegrad said he founded the club three-and-a-half years ago to protect fellow students and the Coronado community from the toxic Tijuana River sewage flows into the ocean. Since then, the club has led protests, letter-writing campaigns and lobbied in Sacramento.
“The thing I’m most proud of is just watching younger members of Stop the Sewage grow and take leadership positions and rise up the ranks,” said Vinegrad. “It makes me feel so happy because it shows that I helped spark a legacy of student activism.”
This fall, Vinegrad plans to attend Stanford University majoring in sustainable architecture and engineering and minoring in economics. He hopes to blend passions for environmentalism and engineering to one day establish a firm as an entrepreneurial engineer.
“I hope that, like I’ve done at CHS with Stop the Sewage, I can continue to make a difference in communities that are facing environmental challenges and maybe I can help engineer solutions to those challenges,” said Vinegrad.
Vinegrad said he took the same capstone class twice and worked with classmates on two projects for a water filter and a trash-collecting robot. He credits his club’s teacher advisor Abbie Hartge for fostering his passion for engineering.
“She’s literally been one of my favorite teachers at CHS,” said Vinegrad. “She really made engineering seem like something fun and it made me want to come to the class every day.”
Vinegrad said his parents’ values and motivation have led him to the present:
“I always just wanted to put my best foot forward and make them proud.”
Environmental science at UCLA
Reflecting on the last four years, Jost said she cherishes her friends, who got her through high school, and community.
“My parents and my sister, they were always a great support system,” said Jost. “We have some wonderful teachers at Coronado High School. Mr. Hoang, Mr. Chao, Ms. Hartge were some of my favorite teachers, and I think they really instilled in me a great motivation to do better.”
Jost was National Honor Society president, an Emerald Keepers intern for three years while serving as president of the club, and conducted research at UCSD’s Airborne Institute. She also participated on the Islanders’ golf, lacrosse and surf teams.
This fall, Jost heads to UCLA to study environmental science, joining her sister, Jaya, who was last year’s valedictorian.
In the future, Jost, 18, is considering going into the medical field or law.
“I’m very excited because UCLA has such a strong program for both, so I can definitely look into both options,” said Jost. “Environmental science is just something that I’m extremely passionate about, so I’m very excited that I get to study it in college.”
Bryn Mawr College athlete
Maske is committed to Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania where she will run cross country and play lacrosse. She plans to pursue studies in the sciences with a humanities minor.
“I kind of have an interest in everything,” said Maske.
In her sophomore year, Maske started the Astrophysics for Introverts club at Coronado High School, encouraging public speaking and discussions about science. She was also president of the CHS book club which she joined her freshman year.
Apart from cross country and lacrosse, Maske took part in the Coronado School of the Arts technical theatre, all of which impacted her in different ways.
“The experiences and the teammates that I had really stand out to me and really impacted me,” said Maske. “Doing technical theater and the management of that — and of course all of the people that I met there — those were really important connections to me.”
Maske said her freshman year of college will be key for determining her future plans.
“My mom and dad really were instrumental in providing me both the resources to get these accomplishments …always being there for me,” she said.
Maske said she has learned a lot about making connections with new people and being more self-confident during her time in Coronado.
“You are the one that defines your success, and whatever that success is, if you work at it, you’ll get there,” said Maske.
