It is very strange that Google alerts at one email address aren’t the same as Google alerts for the same subject (homeschooling) at another email address.  I guess I’ll have to keep a closer eye on that second address, and I’m glad I looked today.  This article is inspriational.

• Diamondback Online, The University of Maryland, 13 May 2006, College Park, Maryland, Mom and son graduate together    

  But come May 22, the senior communication and English double major will graduate from the same university, on the same day and at just about the same time as her 20-year-old son, David, a senior computer science major.

  Now she worries she might not make it to David’s graduation, the same son she homeschooled since the sixth grade and has gone to church with every Sunday. The same son she has watched sleep in the passenger’s seat for the past five years on their ride to the campus.

Congratulations to both Sheri and her son, David.

Homeschooled kids across the country have been busy making their mark.  Congratulations to all the successful kids.

• The Idaho Statesman, Boise, Idaho, 29 April 2006, Pair of 18-year-old riders make early mark in PBR series    

  Brian Canter and L.J. Jenkins don’t need high school letterman jackets.   They’ve got PBR belt buckles.  

  …

  “I don’t ride bulls to win lots of money,” said Canter, who graduated from high school last year through home schooling so he could pursue his dream. “I just like riding bulls.”Jenkins, of New Mexico, is still finishing high school. He also is doing his senior year through home schooling because of the PBR’s demands. This is the 22nd event of the season.

 

• University of Wyoming News, Laramie, Wyoming, 3 May 2006, Wyoming History Days Winners Named    

  Junior Individual Performance, 1st place: Jenny Beiermann, Big Piney Middle School, Big Piney, “Oskar Schindler: Taking a Stand Against Intolerance,” teacher Jonita Sommers; 2nd place: Ashlee Belveal, home school, “Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays, Women’s Stand During WWI,” teacher Michelle Belveal.

 

• Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona, 3 May 2006, This time, they weren’t rooked Homeschool champs score 3 firsts    

  A team of 16 homeschool students from the Southeast Valley, entering the Arizona Scholastic State Chess Championship for the first time, took first place, the first state title by a homeschool team.

 

• Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Cruz, California, 4 May 2006, Cabrillo swimmer Zaferes competing in college state championships    

  Zaferes was home schooled by Nancy growing up, an experience both look back on fondly.

  “It was awesome. I wouldn’t trade it,” Tommy said. “I didn’t have to deal with peer pressure. My P.E. class was surfing and skateboarding, marine biology was going to the beach.”

 

• USA Today, McLean, Virginia, 8 May 2006, There’s nothing to fear in kids’ philosophy bee    

  The senior at the Milton Hershey School, a boarding school in Hershey, Pa., for poor children, beat finalist Jonathan Stafstrom, a home-schooler from Madison, Wis., who argued that hope is more powerful.

 

• Norman Transcript, Norman, Oklahoma, 10 May 2006, Norman, Noble, Little Axe juniors chosen for Boys State    

  Students selected from Norman Post 88 include … Stephen McKee, home school, son of Michael and Jonee McKee; and Dustin McCoy, home school, son of Darin and Tracie McCoy.

 

• The Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas, 11 May 2006,  Class of 2006, K – Y    

  Here are the letters and e-mails sent by counselors, teachers, family members and others recommending a student for notable recognition.

  Jacob Somes, a home school student in Goddard, is a young man who has done excellent academically, plays baseball, and has been very involved in giving back to his church and community in volunteering. He has a quiet strength, very mature for his age, and is a very caring young man who is sensitive to the feelings and needs of others. He has won several scholarships for academics and community involvement, including the Newman University Presidential Scholarship, American Legion and Marine Corps scholarships.

 

• Virginia Pilot, Norfolks, Virginia, 11 May 2006, High school notebook: Baseball, girls soccer, track and field and commitments    

  COMMITMENTS

  Maggie Smith, a 5-10 forward/guard for the BEACH home school team, has committed to play basketball at Virginia Wesleyan.

 

• boston.com, The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 14 May 2006, A college graduate already, 18-year-old earns her MBA    

  She’s also 18, and yesterday she became the youngest student ever to receive a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an independent college in Indiana, Pa.

  Meeker’s parents took her out of the public school system and taught her at their home in Bellefonte, in the state’s center.

This linked article isn’t ‘news’ in the overall scheme of things, but if you haven’t read it, it’s new.

• We’ve Grown Up and We’re Okay

Main points of the article, which was presented in New Zealand in 2000, are:

• the group participants were not a homogenous group
• the participants chose professions that allowed for independence
• the participants feel positive about their families
• the participants showed positive social development, as compared with ‘socialization’
• 42% of the participants had at least some college (a situation that some homeschoolers see as a quirky follow-on to such an un-bureaucratic ‘beginning’)
• 2/3rds of the participants were self-employed