Two decades ago, home educators were being scolded from pulpits, persecuted by social workers, and mocked by the intelligentsia of evolutionary academia. Now they are not only the fastest growing and most influential new educational movement, but they are consistently bringing home the bacon in diverse national academic competitions.
Congratulations to Nathaniel Cornelius, a thirteen-year-old home school youth from Minnesota who won the $25,000 grand prize at the 2005 National Geographic Bee on Wednesday. The Associated Press reports that “Cornelius, of Cottonwood, represented the Marshall Area Home Educators Association. In addition to knowing his way around, he plays piano and classical guitar and enjoys photography. He also represented Minnesota in the 2003 and 2004 National Geographic Bees.”
The winning question: “Lake Gatun, an artificial lake that constitutes part of the Panama Canal system, was created by damming which river?” The answer: “Chagres River.”