Article: GA Homeschooled Journalist Starts Petition to Change School Policy

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GA Homeschooled journalist starts petition to change school policy

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Miranda Sain is the editor of The Eluminatus Courant, a newspaper
published by the students in the Eagle's Nest Homeschool Cooperative.
Sain was energized by the experiences of fellow student journalist
Caitlyn Van Orden, who held a First Amendment Rally in the fall when
the East Coweta High School newspaper was impounded by Principal Derek
Pitts.

Van Orden ultimately stepped down as editor of Smoke Signals rather
than serve as editor of what she felt would be a much-diminished
publication.

Several members of the Eluminatus staff attended the First Amendment
Rally on the Court Square in downtown Newnan put together by Van
Orden. The two feisty female editors are fans of each other's work,
and Van Orden, a senior who also works as an intern at The
Times-Herald, wrote a guest column that is in the current issue of the
homeschool paper.

"Student journalists have to stand together," Sain said.

Now, the homeschooled editor is on a crusade. She wants to gather
1,000 verifiable signatures from Coweta County residents to present to
the school board, urging a policy that gives students the opportunity
to write serious journalism rather than simple, happy fluff.

"I want them to have the same opportunities I did," she said,
referring to public high school students who are aspiring to be
reporters. Reflecting on the difference between the openness to
student leadership at Eluminatus and the school system's restrictive
guidelines, she said, "We don't follow that at all."

Complete story in Times-Herald:
http://content. times-herald. com/307491438710 984.bsp