Loud claps, enthusiastic whoops and the energy of huge smiles fill the room as 11 students from the KMC Homeschool Community walk in, donning their caps and gowns, and taking their seats.

This proud occasion is made even more special by being celebrated at Lichtenberg Castle in Germany.

The ceremony commences with a few inspirational words from Keynote Speaker Alexis Long, whose son, Nathan, is one of the graduates. She encourages the graduating class to,

“Challenge yourselves to develop personally. Figure out what matters to you and use that value system to help you make decisions. You were created for a purpose. You will make mistakes. You can change your mind. No matter where you end up next, find your people and start supporting each other.”

Next, Gigi Veliz, the Senior Speaker, takes the podium tearfully and encourages the room to close their eyes to just soak in all that has accumulated in their journeys that has led to this pivotal moment.

The homeschool community shakes things up from the standard high school graduation. Because it is a tight-knit community and a smaller graduating class, there is time for each graduate’s parents and loved ones to present a photo montage of their achievements and give a short speech. The parents are the ones to hand their kids their diplomas.

This made my job as a writer covering the event easy. As I sat in the audience, I was surprised by the intimacy of the ceremony. Through each parent’s presentation, I felt the overwhelming amount of love, achievement and pride that had been poured into the family’s homeschooling journey. I found myself holding back tears at the inevitable breaks in emotion during speeches and laughing with everyone at the quips of humor and inside jokes. It was really something quite special. One student, Zachary Trappett, was even knighted by his parents,

“Zachary, I knight you to be in charge of your own life.”

Says his dad as he taps a sword (wooden) over each of his son’s shoulders. This was met with huge cheers from the crowd and was perfect for the castle setting.

Another student, Eliana Couron Jeannine Thompson, was graduating not only from high school but also from community college. As with her peers, homeschooling, especially for military families, allows flexibility and support for each child’s individual learning style.

During her speech, mom, Courtney Thompson, spoke about what seemed to be a common thread in military-affiliated homeschool students’ journeys, “The world has been your classroom.”  She elaborated that because of this, her daughter along with the other students had developed curiosity, critical thinking and resilience. This hit extra hard after learning Eliana’s dad couldn’t attend the joyous occasion because of a temporary duty assignment in another country—something which is all too familiar for military families.

All the graduates are extremely well-rounded individuals with future goals of becoming creatives, missionaries, actors, accountants, analysts and more. Some of the students plan to take a gap year for a much-deserved break, while others plan to attend universities across Europe and the United States.

I spoke to a few parents regarding how they felt about their child’s accomplishments. Plus, their experience with homeschooling.

Courtney Thompson shared,

“I will never look back and regret having spent so much time with my kids. I am so grateful that I got to be the one who taught her to read, who taught her to count and do her numbers and taught her as she grew, and I got to see her as she developed her own talents and be a part of it and encourage her every step of the way. It was such a blessing.”

Stephanie and Sam Cohen were very excited for their daughter Anastasia, who will take a gap year to explore Europe, and then go to college. When asked if they had advice for parents and students looking to join the homeschool community, they said,

“Just go for it. You’ll be surprised how great it is. There’s plenty of resources out there, and if you have the time and ability, just go for it!”

Trella Hocken spoke about how she felt about her daughter, Meredith, graduating.

“It’s very exciting just to see her rewarded for all of her hard work, time, her education and just her love of learning.”

Trella’s words of wisdom for parents and kids starting homeschooling were,

“Just looking at what your child is interested in, enjoying the presence of them in your home… Not every day has to be a learning with books and papers [day]. You can see so much of their personality come through experiences. And it’s memories you’ll never get back with them—at the kitchen table, outside, or wherever you go to look.”

Meredith will be moving back to the States to pursue an accounting degree.

I also had the opportunity to chat with Veronica Quezada, who is the event organizer for the KMC Homeschooling Community graduation. She has been hosting a graduation ceremony for students and their families for the past four years and her youngest son will graduate next year. She gushed over the amount of community and support she has received each year to make the event possible.

“I’m glad to be able to do this and just see everybody’s faces at the end. And just know that I can do this. The parents don’t have to fret or even have to question what they can give to their homeschooler…. I just want to give that, so nobody has to stress or think about it, to be able to celebrate. I want them to know that they have the choice to celebrate however they want. This is their moment to shine.”

We talked a bit more about the uniqueness of the ceremony, how personal it is and that the parents can be so involved. Veronica expanded that this is another reason she loves organizing the graduation each year,

“I do love that too; that it can be that intimate, to hear everyone’s journeys throughout their homeschool. And being a homeschool mom myself and just knowing that yes, I can’t wait to say, ‘We did it!’ and just knowing that that’s the ending result is just so amazing to see.”

Congratulations to Renee Veliz on your Recognition for graduating from middle school and moving up to high school!

And a big congratulations to the Senior Class of 2026. You did it!

Colwynn Phenix Allan

Anastasia Cohen

Meredith Honken

Nathan Long

Rebecca Miller

Audrey Madison Spradley

Eliana Couron Jeannine Thompson

Zachary Trappett

Gigi Veliz

Elijah Waller

Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC)

Kids

DoDEA

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• Congratulations Class of 2026 graduates!