Homeschoolers in the News

It is right , appropriate and necessary to balance the scale of press coverage of two young men recently in the news who were both homeschooled.

One-of-a-kind Tebow Becomes First Sophomore to Win Heisman

Dec 8, 11:05 PM (ET)

By RALPH D. RUSSO

NEW YORK (AP) - Tim Tebow took a few deep breaths, steadied himself, then plowed through his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech much the same way he takes on tacklers - fast and furious.

In rapid fire, Florida's sophomore quarterback thanked everyone he could think of, some of them twice. When it came time to take hold of the 25-pound bronze statue, he looked as if he wasn't sure whether he should run with the prize or throw it. He does both so well.

Florida's folk-hero quarterback with the rugged running style and magnetic personality became the first sophomore to win the Heisman on Saturday night.

"I am fortunate, fortunate for a lot of things," Tebow said. "God truly blessed me and this just adds on. It's an honor. I'm so happy to be here."

Since 1935, when Jay Berwanger of Chicago won the first Heisman, every winner had been a junior or senior - until Tebow, who picked up quite a souvenir on his first trip to New York.

"It's surreal a little bit," he said. "It's just overwhelming."

Homeschooled by missionary parents who run an orphanage in the Philippines, Tebow took advantage of a Florida state law to play for Nease, about 90 miles from the University of Florida campus.

Tebow has worked and preached at his parents' orphanage since he was 15. He regularly speaks at schools and delivered his message of faith at a prison in Florida earlier this year.

"Tim Tebow is the real American hero," said Tebow's high school football coach, Craig Howard. "He's the real deal."

And then the other -

Colorado Church Gunman Had Grudge Against Christian Group, Cops Say

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The gunman believed to have killed four people in a pair of shooting sprees at a megachurch in Colorado Springs and a missionary training school near Denver had been thrown out of the missionary school a few years ago and had been sending it hate mail, police said in court papers Monday.

The gunman was identified as Matthew Murray, 24, who was home-schooled in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household. Murray's father is a neurologist and a leading multiple-sclerosis researcher.

Famous Homeschoolers

From The Link Homeschool Newspaper:

PEARL S. BUCK (1892 – 1973)

Author

Pearl S. Buck was born in Hillsboro, NC on June 26, 1892 to Presbyterian missionaries who moved to China when she was 3 years old. Buck learned the Chinese language and customs from a Chinese teacher and was homeschooled in English as a second language and other subjects by her mother and tutor until she began formal school at the age of 17. Buck’s mother understood her daughter’s need for a creative outlet and focused on her writing skills, encouraging her to write something every week. Buck began writing for missionary magazines at the age of 6 and, as a young adult, decided to become a novelist. Her works primarily displayed a sympathetic focus on life in China and in 1932 she won the Pulitzer Price for widely acclaimed novel “The Good Earth”, the story of the farmer Wang Lung's life. In her lifetime, Buck wrote more than 65 books in addition to hundreds of short stories and essays.

ANDREW CARNEGIE (1835 – 1919)

Steel Manufacturer/Philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland in an impoverished, yet cultured, political home. Many of Carnegie’s closest relatives were self-educated trademen and class activists. At the age of 5, Carnegie refused to go to school so his parents kept him home where an uncle read to him out loud. Three years later, he started school but quit at the age of 13. Carnegie’s “education” was enhanced by Colonel James Anderson who opened his personal library to working boys. Carnegie was a “self-made man” intellectually, culturally and economically. He was the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company, one of the most powerful and influential corporations in the United States. Carnegie was also a widely respected philanthropist who, later in his life, gave away most of his riches to fund the establishment of many libraries, schools and universities in Scotland, America and worldwide.