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Virginia Homeschoolers Make the News

Virginia homeschoolers are making the news! We hope you enjoy these links and articles about homeschooling. We will continue to add more news stories as they occur, so please keep checking back! News features are arranged from newest to oldest.

Click here to submit a news article. 

Jared MannHOMESCHOOLER WINS THIRD PLACE IN RUBBER BAND CONTEST AND IS A SEMI-FINALIST IN BUBBLE WRAP CONTEST  

Jared Mann, a sixth-grade homeschooler from Christiansburg, Virginia, won third place in the first ever Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors!

Renewable energy was the theme of Jared's invention--"The Power Tree." This invention makes use of rubber bands to generate electricity from the wind, even when the wind speed is below what can be used by a regular wind turbine. 

Jared MannJared was also a top 15 semi-finalist (out of more than 2,200 entries) in this year's Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors for another invention, "The Pop-up Solar Cooker Book." This invention, which uses the insulating qualities of Bubble Wrap, combines two different types of solar cookers into one portable unit that literally pops up for use. Jared has won $500 for being a winner in this contest. Jared is the first and only student in the United States to be a semi-finalist in both the Rubber Band and Bubble Wrap Contest at the same time! Jared's sister, Nicolette Mann, was a top three national winner in the Bubble Wrap contest just last year.

www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?s=9853294

HOMESCHOOL ALUMNUS EARNS THE SPAATZ AWARD

PhotoHomeschool alumnus David Dillie, Jr., was recently awarded the General Carl A. Spaatz Award, the Civil Air Patrol's highest cadet award. Marking the completion of the cadet program, this award is given to cadets who pass a rigorous four-part examination consisting of an aerospace test, a leadership test, an essay designed to challenge the cadet's reasoning ability, and a physical fitness test. Only .05% of cadets ever earn the Spaatz Award. David joined the Fredericksburg Composite Squadron in 2000 and has served twice as the cadet commander. He is actively involved in emergency services with the Civil Air Patrol and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, and is training to become a Red Cross Instructor. After obtaining a degree in emergency services, David plans to attend seminary and enter the ministry. Read the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star's article about David's CAP journey. [Note: His mom and homeschool teacher, Kathleen Dillie, is the copy editor for the Update.]

www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/032008/03252008/364556

 

HOMESCHOOLERS MAKING WAVES

Andrew Finley, special correspondent, recently contributed an article to the Midlothian Exchange focusing on a homeschool sports organization here in Virginia. The article begins: "The Central Virginia Homeschool Athletic Association boasts over 500 members and fields varsity football, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' soccer, softball, and baseball teams as well as well as junior varsity and middle school teams, and according to league officials, the association is still seeing a lot of growth."

Read the complete article via the link below.

www.midlothianexchange.com/newsarchives/archivedetails.cfm?ID=1348 

 

AN HEAV ALUMNUS GETS PAPER PUBLISHEDAndy Surface

Congratulations to Andy Surface for the recent publication of his work in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Formerly homeschooled, Andy is now a junior at Hampden-Sydney College majoring in chemistry. Andy and his mom, Jan Surface, have been incredibly valuable volunteers at HEAV. Andy was our webmaster and spent countless hours upgrading and developing the HEAV site. Read more about his accomplishments at the Hampden-Sydney College website.

www2.hsc.edu/news

 

HOMESCHOOLERS WIN BUBBLE WRAP COMPETITION

Homeschoolers took first and second place in the National Museum of Education's recent Bubble Wrap competition!

Hannah HaasThe grand prize (first place) went to Hannah Haas (left), a 13-year-old homeschooler from Charlotte, North Carolina. The eighth-grader developed wallpaper designed to stimulate and engage children afflicted with autism.

Nicolette MannSecond place went to Nicolette Mann (right), a 13-year-old homeschooler from Christiansburg, Virginia. Nicolette used Bubble Wrap brand cushioning to create a single kit that enables the easy assembly of multiple flying kites by providing detailed instructions on how to construct different formations, shapes, and styles.

www.nmoe.org/bubblewrap/winners08.html

 

Will FlathersWILL FLATHERS SCORES SCHOLARSHIP - AGAIN

Virginia homeschooler Will Flathers has once again been awarded a prestigious scholarship. (He won the Goldwater Scholarship last year--see the May 15, 2007 Update.) This time, Will was awarded the George Marshall Scholarship--a prestigious award for which only about 40 students across the U.S. are selected annually. Will was Virginia Military Institute's first recipient ever to earn the scholarship named after their most famous graduate, General George Marshall, as well as their first student to earn the Goldwater Scholarship. Will was homeschooled from third grade through high school. He plans to earn his master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Sheffield, England. Read the full article here. 

 

HOMESCHOOLERS AID VIETNAMESE CHILDREN

In Star News Online, Bob Grawey wrote:

"Three years ago, if someone would have told the Journey homeschool co-op kids they would be buying shoes for Vietnamese children who had to walk to school barefoot in the snow, they may have scratched their heads, wondering what that person was talking about. And if the kids, who range from 2 to 12 years old, had been told they would put electricity in a school on the other side of the world, they might think that person was crazy." Read the story at the website below.

http://erstarnews.com/content/view/1763/141

 

HOMESCHOOL TEAM WINS ROBOTIC AWARD

Robotic Team Members and AwardWith their performance at the Virginia FIRST Tech Challenge on December 1 at University of Virginia, the Twisted Bots, a team of Middle Peninsula homeschooled high schoolers, won the Inspire Award and a bid to the FIRST Robotics World Championships in Atlanta in April. The Inspire Award winner performs well in all judging categories and is chosen by the judges as the best representative role model for FIRST Tech Challenge teams. They are joined by the state's points winner at the World Championship.

Team members pictured, from left to right: Brandon Williams, Carson Towne, Coach Jon Thompson, Julia Thompson, Mentor Nathanael Miller, and Dylan Burton. Not pictured: Sawyer Towne and Caleb Taylor. Congratulations to you all!

View the article that appeared on the front page of the Daily Press here. 

 

HOMESCHOOLING ARTICLE IN THE WASHINGTON POST

In the Metro section of the June 11, 2007, paper, the Washington Post featured an article on homeschooling,“Giving Proper Credit to Home-Schooled.” The article focused on the increasing popularity of homeschooling and how college admission officers are adapting to this movement. It also featured pictures of the Annapolis homeschool graduation ceremony and several paragraphs on the HEAV Convention held in Richmond on June 7-9. The article ended with a fitting quote from a homeschool mother whose daughter will be graduating next year: “The saddest thing about her graduation is that I wish I could do it again.” 

Read the full article online.  

HOMESCHOOLING ARTICLE IN THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE

On June 6, 2007, the Virginia Gazette featured the above photo of two homeschool graduates, Sam Miller (24) and Nathanael Miller (22), on the front page. The headline read “Home-school has graduated/Success speaks volumes for pacing, innovation, creativity.”

Sam is an engineer and works at NASA, Nathanael is finishing his master’s in electrical engineering and is a co-op at NASA, and John (20)--who is pictured later in the article--is finishing his master’s in aeronautical engineering and is a second-year NASA intern.

Besides the Miller family, Sharon Schiff, the Virginia Gazette reporter, interviewed Gwen Sturdy and her daughter Lauren. Lauren, who graduates this year, earned a perfect score of 2400 the first time she took the SAT and received a National Merit Scholarship. She will be attending Washington & Lee University and said, “One thing that I really value was being able to take charge of my education.” 

Read the Virgina Gazette article, “Home-school has graduated.”

Read the NASA article “A Family Affair.”

 

HOMESCHOOLERS WIN GEOGRAPHY AND SPELLING BEES

Evan O'Dorney, an eighth-grade homeschooler from Danville, California, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 1. According to Brian D. Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, "Reports show that 36 of the 286 students (13%) in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee championship are homeschooled while roughly about 3% of K-12 students are home educated."
Read the Fox News story on the contest.
Read Evan O'Dorney's bio.
Read a news article about another homeschool participant.

Caitlin Snaring, a homeschooled eighth grader from Redmond, Washington, won the National Geographic Bee competition held in Washington D.C. on May 23. Caitlin is the first girl to win in 17 years. Read about Caitlin's win.