83 students, 1 community

Published 2:30 am Thursday, May 21, 2026

Eighty-three seniors graduated from Homer High School on Monday in a commencement ceremony that quickly became standing-room only in the Alice Witte Gymnasium.

Activity bus driver Joseph Brewer was selected by the senior class to be their keynote speaker this year because of his dedication, encouragement and consistent support of Homer High students. In his speech to the student body, he asked them to shift their way of thinking and see commencement “not just as a completion, but more importantly, a new beginning.”

“As you leave the halls of Homer High School, you’ll be confronted with many decisions … and your response to those decisions will determine your future,” he said. “You can respond like the crowd, or you can respond with a higher standard. The bottom line is you can be a leader or a follower.”

Brewer offered three keys to each student’s ability to develop the leader within them: learn to prioritize, live a life of integrity, and be persistent and resilient.

“You’re not going to win every race, every event that you’re involved in. There will be days that you fail, but what you do next will determine whether it’s a failure or a learning experience,” he said.

Valedictorian Lukas Renner and salutatorian Marina Co presented their address to the student body and audience together.

In a fashion reminiscent of his speech accepting the Youth Learner award at the Lifelong Learning Celebration earlier this spring, Renner began with a joke.

“There is a saying in German … ‘everything has an end, only the sausage has two,’” he said. “Nothing lasts forever, but today we’re celebrating the end of our four years at Homer High School.”

Renner and Co both took a moment to recognize not only the hard work that each student had put in in order to graduate, but also the diverse nature of their class.

“As we were working on this speech, we struggled to come up with a common event or theme that unites our class as a whole. Everybody we talked to said our class is especially sectionalized,” Renner said.

“But we realized that’s okay,” Co continued. “With just 83 students, our class comes from every corner of Kachemak Bay: East End, West Hill, Diamond Ridge, Halibut Cove and Anchor Point. Some of us from even further: Adak, the Philippines, as far as Vietnam and Argentina.”

“With just 83 students,” Renner and Co said, the graduating class of 2026 comes from all different backgrounds and will go on to participate in countless careers and future endeavours.

“We are 83 students, but we are one community,” Co said. “We all reach graduation through different paths, guided by different people and driven by different motivations.”

Renner illustrated the concept of personal efficacy, which he and his classmates learned about in Michelle Borland’s government class.

Personal efficacy, he said, is the belief that your own individual voice holds the power to influence laws, policies and elections.

“Since then, we’ve thought a lot about how this translates to all things in our lives, whether political or not,” he said.

“As you continue on your next journey, whatever that may be, we urge you all to think about your personal efficacy, the idea that what you do and what you say holds the power to create real change in the world,” Co said. “Whether in your home, your career or your community, your actions are never insignificant. Everything you do can make a difference in the world we all share.”

In presenting scholarships and awards earned by members of the graduating class, school counselor Sue Rennolds said that between local, statewide and national awards, the “grand total” of post-secondary awards granted to the Homer High School class of 2026 was over $2.5 million.

A recording of Monday’s commencement ceremony is available on the Homer Mariners YouTube page at www.youtube.com/@homermariners3156.

Homer High School Class of 2026

Zayne Adams

Lake Alexson

Kaitlyn Anderson

Jai Badajos

Clayton Ball

Ellen Barrett

Zane Barth

Kiriakia Basargin

Rockwell Bates

Abigail Bobo

Claira Booz

Jaxon Bourne

Caleb Bunker

Steven Burns Jr.

Johannes Bynagle

Clyde Clemens

Marina Co

Travis Coyle Jr.

Aiden Crane

Leland Curtis

Camilo de la Uz

Eesha Digal

John Dudley Jr.

Emma Early

Nicolas Erickson

Michael Farmer

Natalie Farren

Shyanne Faulkner

Joseph Felice

Diego Penna

Taylor Fraley

Zayda Gagnon

Aletha Gall

Ella Gustafson

Dorothea Hanenberger

McKenzie Hansen

Cassidy Hardyman

Mia Hemphill

Bradley Henning

Gracie High

Natalie Hinsberger

Dimitri Hooks

Jack Houle

Immi Im

Thea James

Olivia Jansen

Kayla Kalafut

Hannah Klima

Faida Linegar

Avri Ludwig

Nikolai Macauly

Joseph Maly

Laney Martushev

Logan Matysczak

Liam McDonald

Emelian Melkomukov

Donovan Milstead

Sierra Mullikin

Malina Neland

Kea Neveras

Keagan Niebuhr

Sara Nollar

Halen Nordstrom

Tait Ostrom

Gunnar Pinsky

Charity Rainwater

Wynne Reed

Lilly Reeve

Lukas Renner

Ryder Rhodes

Jayden Sims

Jackson Snaric

Thomas Spitler

Anna Springer

Brennan Steen

Amber Stevenson

Finnley Stineff

Anthony Stone

Lynnzi Stout-Dee

Landon Tinsley

Tung Tran

David Van Hooser

Lillianna White

Daniel Yerly