Joseph Foerster

Next, I’d like to thank my older brother, Christian, for always being an inspiration and providing his insights whenever I needed help with things. I’d also like to thank Susie for her understanding and guidance.

But most importantly, I’d like to thank God for His presence in my life, His always being there, His comfort, and the sacrifice of His Son. Without that sacrifice, this accomplishment would not have the meaning it does today.

I look forward to my future journey with great anticipation and know that my high school career will be the foundation for my future success.

Clark Hill

I want to start by giving thanks to my parents Patrick and Jessica Hill. Thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams and teaching me the value of dedication and perseverance.

To my sister Scarlet, thank you for still enjoying my company and being the person I can count on.

To my grandmothers, Harriet and Suzanne, your constant support and presence in my life has meant the world to me.

Last, but not least, Ms. Susan, your guidance through my homeschooling journey has made a huge difference and I’m grateful for your patience and the time you’ve given us.

As I reflect on this journey, I am reminded of a verse that speaks to what this moment means to me; “Be diligent in these matters, give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress.” -1 Timothy 4:15

Thank you all for being a part of this chapter. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead with a lot of gratitude and excitement.

Lyte Shell

In the beginning God created… Why? That’s a question
long debated. I certainly don’t have the whole answer.
What did He create? Well, 6,000 years after the
beginning described in Genesis he orchestrated my
beginning in a happy home in China. He had a purpose
for another human. But what exactly was I supposed to
be doing? Umm… I still have more questions than
answers, but I had the basics; I was supposed to play, learn, and grow.

One day I heard my sisters sounding out spelling words. Eager to start learning, and considering that easy enough, I piped up, “S. A. T.: oil!” I still struggle with spelling.

Later on, still in China under the age of 5, seeing my older siblings doing school, I thought the activity looked fun and begged to be allowed to do the same. All of my older siblings assured me that it was not as fun as I thought. But Mama was willing and let me try my genius at some entry level material. Within a few minutes I was back to playing. Those older siblings do seem to have a knack for getting things right.

My learning did not stop with such a defeat, though. One thing I remember successfully achieving at that age was creating my first woodworking project. Papa had bought some tools and made me a beautiful workbench to organize and hold all of them. At some point after that I made a very simple step stool. I have continued to enjoy woodworking ever since. Thus, I continued to grow.

Soon we moved to Mongolia. While there, I began to pick up the native culture and language as well as that of my passport country, and in the early years there, my formal education officially began, now 14 years ago. Reading was a struggle. While repeating the victory drill word lists, I would get tired of sitting in the same position. I both moved to the side of the book and began to twirl my hair. In time I migrated to the top of my desk and continued the word lists upside down. Eventually, my ever-patient Mama suggested, “you could probably read best sitting back down and reading the words right side up” and as the hair twirling continued “If you twirl your hair too much you might get a bald spot.” The twirling promptly stopped, but not my education progress.

A few years later we moved from the city to the farm, and my horizons expanded. I learned to: operate and repair farm equipment, milk cows, work with cattle, garden, and many other things that just come with being on a farm. We were extremely active and fit without doing P.E. In book work, the science and math were enjoyable, but the language arts… not so much.

In these early years in Mongolia, God got my attention in a church service, and I committed my life to doing His will. Some time after that, when asking God what my assignment was, the verse “Honor your father and your mother,” stood out to me. I have felt that that has been my assignment since. A lot of obeying my parents meant sticking with my schoolwork—not necessarily to my delight but to my benefit.

Some years after this I remember a time that I was really struggling with a math problem. I finally turned to God in prayer. I told him that as far as I could see this is what He wanted me to be doing right then, and asked Him to help. When I went back to it, the solution came quite quickly. God was active in my life at large, but he was also listening to my specific requests and preparing me for future advancement.

Up to this point life had been pretty steady, but soon the speed of life picked up. During the 2018 school year Mama flew back to the U.S. to care for Grandfather Showalter. To fill the gap, my sister Ruth seamlessly assumed the role of substitute Mom and taught Truth and me our school.

The 2019-20 School year found me in three countries: Mongolia, South Korea, and the US. I remember reading a science book that I started in Mongolia, under a tree on Chumun-do island South Korea with Mama. I then finished that book in the U.S. The beginning of 2020 we came back to the US, and I found out what WCFS really was. Before, it was just a name that sent us documents. I soon learned about portfolio reviews, workshops, student council, expo, and Roxbury.

For the 2020-21 School year my sister Miriam tutored my brother Truth and me in our lessons. She gave us a good schedule and kept us at it. We finished on time!

From that year on, Truth’s and my school began to overlap. We helped each other out and commiserated over the deficiencies in our curriculum. We sent Ruth what was probably too many screenshots. Sometimes we might have been more intent on fixing the system than doing our school. We shared lots of computer improvement techniques as well as distractions.

In 2022, I started working part time at Plastec Profiles, a plastic fabrication shop. The next year I was elected student council president with Truth as my secretary.

This last year, 2024-25, I pressed to the finish line. I picked up a job at a dairy farm, in addition to Plastec, but then realized the need to quit both jobs to focus on finishing my courses. I took Mr. Gary’s research paper class, and with his guidance I completed a paper, a task unsuccessfully attempted the year before.

The beginning of my life was rather peaceful, at least for me. Then these last couple years as I did school amidst many moves and the start to life as an adult, the speed of life picked up. And now I am here, giving a closing speech for high school. I give this brief summary as a basis for saying thank you, through reminiscing about what others have done for me. There are some, however, that did not make it into this account and others not covered as well as I would like.

To my oldest sister Francy, even though we weren’t as close when we were children, thank you for being the person I can most comfortably talk to about deep things in these later years.

Thank you to Mama and Papa for all the things you taught me outside of formal schooling, for 20 years of patient teaching, for readiness to help with any of life’s problems, and for 20 years of sacrificial care.

To Mr. Gary, thank you for your experienced teaching and guidance, provoking me to finish in good time, and for filling in for my parents while they were away.

To Mr. Joel, thank you for guiding us unexperienced new student council officers, for directing events and activities so that they run would smoothly, and adding fun educational activities whenever there’s a chance.

To Ms. Donna, thank you for all the fun workshop activities, record keeping (a relatively unnoticed but highly important task), and for all the behind the scenes work at all the events.

Thank you, to all WCFS staff of the past 14 years (some of whom I’ve met, and others whom I’ve never met), who worked behind the scenes to make my schooling happen, and help make workshops and other events enjoyable.

Thank you to all the people who prayed for our family as missionaries these 22 years and more. We saw so many prayers answered.

Finally, to my Father in heaven. Thank You for all your love for these 20 years. You placed me in a great home, You provided my needs, You gave me a great education, You protected us amidst dangerous activities on the farm. Your providence is evident in my life. I Thank You.

Psalm 61:5b, “You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.”

Matthew Skiles

To be completely honest I have never been a fan of
school. And it is mainly because of my learning
disability. But Mom always made me stick with it, which
I appreciate now.

And we did have some fun, especially on the field trips. Dad took me to the local quarry and Mom took us to a sheep farm, which gave me some good memories. God helped me get through my classes and taught me to stick with it till the end.

I’ll be pursuing a career in the Baltimore County Fire Department in the future. Right now I’m volunteering at Lansdowne Volunteer Fire Department Station 36 in Halethorpe Maryland. Being a volunteer will give me experience before entering the career side of the fire department.

Thank you to my Mom for helping and teaching me and helping me get through everything in school. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Abraham Simon

As we are all aware, God knows the end from the beginning, which is why I am certain that He had planned for me to be placed in this God-fearing family and to be raised and nurtured in His ways. All those Bible study sessions with my father and the late nights and long hours with my mother have led to this.

I’m grateful to my family for their continued encouragement, inspiration and prayer which enabled me to perform at my best. I also want to thank Grandmother for taking care of me when my parents were working, and my sister for providing me with comic relief in tense moments.

I am truly grateful to WCFS for welcoming me into this remarkable and spiritually enriching Bible-based homeschool curriculum.

To my fellow graduates, Congrats! We made it!

As we embark on this new journey, let us run our race with perseverance, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, having fully known that He has great plans for each and every one of us. I would like to conclude by reciting a word of passage from Proverbs 4:20-22:

“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”

Amen.

Congratulations also to Landon Ahearn who graduated in absentia!

Congratulations to the Class of 2025!

Wedding Wishes from a Father