HEY, M.A.
Here’s a pretty typical piece on the new PA law mandating that school districts allow HEKs to play. Of note, Mary Alice is extensively quoted:
Although the legislation is important, don’t expect to see a rush of home-school students joining district activities, says Maryalice Newborn of Mur-rysville.
Newborn, who teaches her children at home, is the founder of Family Learning Opportunities, an organization that helps provide a variety of opportunities for home schoolers in the East Suburbs.
Family Learning Opportunities offers weekly activities such as pick-up baseball and soccer games. It even plans visits to cultural activities such as symphony and opera performances.
“I think it’s good legislation because it makes everything fair from one district to the next,” she says. “But it probably won’t affect most home schoolers.”
Newborn emphasizes the importance of equality from district to district.
Living near the Penn-Trafford district border, she felt it was unfair that her children had the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities while a home-school child just one block away in the neighboring district was prohibited prior to the new law.
“My family won’t be participating because public schools don’t really do anything for us,” she says. “We’re happy with the choices we’ve made — the world is our classroom!”
She estimates that maybe 5 percent of home-schooled students will take advantage of the new law because most enjoy their separation from public schools. But, she notes, it is nonetheless an important opportunity for many students.
“Participating in competitive sports will be good for families with gifted kids because it opens up opportunities for athletic scholarships,” she says.
However, she doesn’t expect the law to have much of an impact on her organization. Some students participate in district sports and help coach younger children in the Family Learning Opportunities’ activities.
“We’re satisfying a different need with non-competitive sports,” she says.
UPDATE: The paper has about a half-dozen articles on home education. There’s nothing online to indicate why.
2 Responses to “HEY, M.A.”
 Comment by maryalice November 16th, 2005 at 4:09 pm |
Oh, well…I guess my name is many people’s Rolodex/Palm. |
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Comment by maryalice November 16th, 2005 at 11:57 pm |
“The paper has about a half-dozen articles on home education. There’s nothing online to indicate why.” The Gateway Newspapers has a group of local newspapers. So each article went in a different newspaper, focused for one location. |