6This high-profile event will be held to kick off the 2025-2026 school year and will feature alumni guest speaker  Jerod Nieder, Lawrence Free State High School graduate, 2001.     

2025 Featured Speaker, Jerod Nieder, Lawrence Free State High School graduate, 2001.  

Hanna and Jerod Nieder are an interabled couple known for their Instagram
platform @positivelyparalyzed. Leveraging the power of social media to
educate, inform and inspire people living with paralysis, the newly married
couple has gained national recognition with their heartwarming love story,
garnering over 1.1M views on YouTube. The Nieders aim to build relationships
and create community, both online and in-person, by sharing their passion for
adventures and travel, through their @positivelyparalyzed lens of accessibility,
inclusion and representation.

Currently residing in Louisville, Kentucky, with their dog, Belle, Jerod has been a
participant at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center for 8 years, and
for the last 5 years, Hanna has been his sole caregiver. Jerod’s spinal cord
injury happened on December 18, 2011 from a diving accident, and 10 years
later, to the day, December 18, 2021, Jerod married Hanna, transforming the
date into positive memory. Hanna and Jerod lead by example and hope their
@positivelyparalyzed platform inspires others to do the same.

Mark your calendars – as you aren’t going to want to miss this one!

Be Sure To Also Check Out Our 2026 Featured Speaker Below!

      Valedictorian Major Sponsors

And A Sneak Peek Into 2026!

2026 Featured Speaker, Alex Hyler, Lawrence High School graduate, 2009.       

Alex Hyler, Lawrence High School 2009 graduate, and daughter of Drs. Eric and Linda Hyler, grew up in Lawrence, Kansas attending Raintree, Sunflower Elementary, Southwest Junior High, and Lawrence High School. During her time growing up, Alex was a competitive gymnast for over 6 years. Throughout high school, she was active in diving, debate, choir, and forensics, and she participated in the Eutin Sister City’s exchange. Upon graduating from LHS in 2009, Alex was Valedictorian and gave a graduation speech. She went on to attend the University of Kansas earning her bachelors with honors in chemical engineering with a minor in German in 2013. At KU, Alex volunteered regularly at the Dole Institute of Politics, led Sellards Scholarship Hall as proctor for two years, and attended nearly every Kansas basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse. Afterwards, she earned her PhD in biomedical engineering from the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences in 2018 in Blacksburg, Virginia. While at VT, Alex earned a Fulbright to conduct some of her PhD research in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was named the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year at graduation for her work in scholarship and community outreach, particularly for her time serving as President of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. She has expertise in ovarian cancer biology, microfluidics, and device engineering. Alex is currently the Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for CytoRecovery, a dynamic startup working to commercialize new cell separation and recovery technologies. She manages CytoRecovery’s research and technology commercialization portfolios, leads all scientific research projects and collaborations, explores innovate applications, transitions products to production for market launch, and develops and maintains all customer relationships. In her professional career to date, she has authored five publications, has four pending patent applications, and has given dozens of conference presentations and talks across the globe. Alex also regularly gives talks and serves on panels advising current high school, college, and internship students.  When she’s not working, Alex enjoys traveling the world (32 countries, 37 states, and counting), watching sports (Rock Chalk, Go Hokies, Go Chiefs), visiting her family, and spoiling her two dogs, Phog and Allie.

Save The Date: September 2026