May 9, 2025
Grandmother and Granddaughter Graduate Together from Lake-Sumter State College
By Kyle Coppola
Grandmother and Granddaughter Graduate Together from Lake-Sumter State College
CLERMONT, Fla. — In a heartwarming display of perseverance and family pride, 71-year-old Diane Maca and her 18-year-old granddaughter Payton Kuhn graduated together Thursday morning at Lake-Sumter State College’s Clermont campus commencement ceremony.
The pair walked across the stage side by side, symbolizing two generations of commitment to education. Maca returned to college decades after first attending, while Kuhn completed her studies fresh out of high school.
(71-year-old Diane Maca “left” and her 18-year-old granddaughter Payton Kuhn “right”)
“Age doesn’t limit learning,” a college spokesperson said. “That’s the power of a community college education.”
Lake-Sumter State College praised the duo as an example of how the institution supports learners at every stage of life, from those just beginning their academic journey to those returning to finish what they started.
As they turned their tassels and embraced, Maca and Kuhn proved that it’s never too early—or too late—to earn a degree.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
