Lilliyana Desancic, 11, had her ornament design selected as one of 24 that will hang on a Christmas tree near the White House this year. The tree's decorations represent her Defense Department school in Sembach, Germany. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stipes)

SEMBACH, Germany — One of Eowyn Gamble’s biggest wishes for Christmas this year is to have her artwork catch the eye of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The 9-year-old, whose father is a Navy senior chief petty officer, is among two dozen Sembach Elementary School students who designed Christmas ornaments that are on display near the National Christmas Tree in Washington, just steps away from the White House.

“My message to her would be that it’s a (drawing of a) plum tree,” Gamble said. “A lot of people decided to draw flags or sunsets, but I thought of doing a tree. It was super-creative.”

Normally, the fourth grader draws pictures of dragons, foxes or herself. Hearing that her artistry had been selected for use as an ornament was exciting, she said.

Every year, one Defense Department-run school from each of three global regions joins a school from each state and U.S. territory in being selected to design ornaments for their own Christmas tree in Washington.

These smaller trees line a path near the national Christmas tree in President’s Park, behind the White House. The annual display, called America Celebrates, is meant to be a way for students to show pride in their state’s history and culture.

For children of service members living overseas, it can also be a way to feel connected to home at a time of year when being away can be particularly difficult.

Gamble and her family are spending their first Christmas in Germany after living in the Washington, D.C., area for three years.

Eowyn Gamble, 9, is one of 24 students at Sembach Elementary School in Sembach, Germany, who designed ornaments for this years National Christmas Tree celebration in Washington, D.C. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

Members of the Gamble family, photographed at the Christmas market in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Dec. 17, 2024, are spending their first Christmas in Germany this year. Sembach Elementary School student Eowyn Gamble's drawing of a plum tree was selected to be transformed into an ornament for a school Christmas tree near the White House. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

A Christmas ornament designed by Eowyn Gamble, 9, was inspired by a plum tree growing behind the fourth graders house in Germany. It was among 24 ornaments designed by students at Sembach Elementary School included in this years National Christmas Tree celebration in Washington D.C. (Ashlee Gamble)

Sembach Elementary School, located in the sprawling Kaiserslautern Military Community in southwestern Germany, was selected as this year’s Department of Defense Education Activity in Europe representative.

The school’s art teacher, Cassie Bennett, had over 240 of her students between kindergarten and fifth grade design a Christmas ornament in the fall, telling them only that it was for something special.

Their task was to create a design that depicted what living in Germany is like. After the designs were submitted, Bennett had to decide which 24 would be sent to Washington to be turned into ornaments.

“It’s definitely different living here,” Bennett said. “Coming here, you’re away from family, you’re away from familiarity, so when you get to be a part of something back home that’s this big and iconic, it’s special.

President Calvin Coolidge began the national Christmas tree tradition in 1923. About three decades later, a wider celebration called the Christmas Pageant of Peace was launched, in which the tree lighting event expanded to three weeks.

The expansion also included a feature called Pathway of Peace around the national Christmas tree. It’s composed of smaller trees representing all the states and additional areas.  

The Sembach students whose designs were selected weren’t told until Dec. 13, when their names were announced at a Christmas concert at the school.  

A third grade choir performs at Sembach Elementary School on Dec. 13, 2024, during an event in which names of 24 students who had ornament designs included in this years National Christmas Tree celebration were announced. (Colin Cruickshank/DODEA)

A parent takes a photograph on Dec. 13, 2024, of Sembach Elementary students whose ornament designs were included in this year’s National Christmas Tree celebration. (Colin Cruickshank/DODEA)

Cassie Bennett, an art teacher at Sembach Elementary School, sent designs by 24 of her students to Washington to be transformed into Christmas ornaments. The school in Germany is this year's Department of Defense Education Activity in Europe representative in an annual program to decorate trees near the White House. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

“I felt so overwhelmed,” said Lilliyana Desancic, 11. “I stayed in my seat because I thought they were calling another Lilly. Then I was like, ‘Whoa, it’s me.’”

Desancic, whose father is an Air Force captain at nearby Ramstein Air Base, used rain clouds in her ornament design and said she thought that she’d more likely have a wet Christmas this year instead of a white one.

“I like Christmas in the U.S.,” she said. “We used to live in Wyoming and my favorite part was jumping in the snow. Here, it’s too rainy for me.”

Desancic has three siblings attending Sembach Elementary School. Their ornament designs, along with the others not selected for Washington, have been hung up around the school to reflect its participation in the capital celebration.