McClain Crowned Mr. Union

2026 UHS Mr. Union Rylan McClain (front center-right), and royalty finalists, including Union Bands students Claire Mitsdarfer, Emma Foster, Jake Coulter, Alan Renteria, & Parker Nguyen (shown left to right among other candidates).

On Fri Mar 28 our very own Rylan McClain was named Mr. & Miss Union for 2026!   Based on teacher recommendation, academic excellence, school spirit & involvement, faculty feedback, input from the student body, and advancing from a field of 10+ semifinalists and 5 finalists, being named Mr. or Miss Union is considered the highest honor that a Union student can attain. 

We are particularly proud of Rylan and how he has represented the Union Bands in the context of the bigger picture of the Union community, as 2026 marks another year that that a member of the band program has the claimed one of the Mr./Miss Union crowns!  

Among numerous other honors and achievements, Rylan is a National Merit Finalist, Salutatorian, a multi-year member of the Union HS Band, multi-year performer with the highly-regarded Union HS Front Ensemble, and have served on the Renegade Regiment's Student Leadership Team, a small group of highly influential leaders. 

The Union Bands community is overjoyed that Rylan was selected as this year's Mr. Union; we are admittedly biased, but seeing him chosen for this honor was a "no-brainer"!   

Rylan is the son of Jeremy and Chenelle McClain.

Many other Union Bands students were finalists for the 2026 Mr./Miss Union titles, including Claire Mitsdarfer, Emma Foster, Jake Coulter, Alan Renteria, & Parker Nguyen. To have the Union Band represented so well among this distinguished Redhawks makes us very proud!

CONGRATS AGAIN TO RYLAN and his familiy! 

Three Union Bands Seniors named National Merit Finalists

Named 2025-2026 National Merit Semi-Finalists last September, five Union High School Seniors have advanced and been been named National Merit Finalists; among them are three Union Bands students! Let’s congratulate:

• Edwin Chen, son of Zhenyu H. Chen and Jane Luo, of Tulsa;

• Jacob Coulter, son of John and Jane Coulter, of Broken Arrow

• Rylan McClain, son of Jeremy and Chenelle McClain, of Broken Arrow
  

ABOUT NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Finalists will be named in February 2026.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

To participate in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a student must:

• Be enrolled full time as a high school student, progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school, and planning to enter college no later than the fall following completion of high school;

• Be a citizen of the United States or, if not now a citizen, a permanent U.S. resident (or an applicant for permanent residency) in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen; and

• Take the PSAT/NMSQT ® in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern.

center three pictured, left to right: Edwin Chen, Jacob Coulter, Rylan McClain

ARTICLE: "What Employers Want, Musicians Have"

PARENTS: Students can learn 21st-century job skills in the music classroom. Check out this article.