Click the image above to read The Bright Ideas Beacon, September 2017 issue
The Bright Ideas Beacon is a monthly student-run newspaper.
These students are enrolled in The Academy at Bright Ideas Press and are receiving training in Journalism. This project is overseen by faculty adviser, Mrs. Jamie Anderson, who has four years experience with online homeschool student-run newspapers. With a journalism degree, a decade of radio and public relations work experience and twelve years of homeschooling, Mrs. Anderson has a wealth of knowledge to share with these students.
Are you interested in being a part of this online homeschool student-run newspaper? Click to register now. Space is very limited.
Download The Bright Ideas Beacon
Download a PDF of the current issue of The Bright Ideas Beacon.
The Academy Student Journalists
Dylan George, a 15-year-old junior, is a reporter for The Bright Ideas Beacon. He lives on a small 18-acre farm in the Missouri Ozarks with his parents and one sister; they have two dogs, three cats, six goats and over 150 chickens, along with four beehives, which he harvests honey from at least once a year. While farmwork isn’t his favorite thing to do, Dylan enjoys living in the country. His favorite subjects are math, especially statistics, along with geography and reading. He also enjoys playing the piano in his spare time and playing games with his family. His career interests include going into constitutional law and becoming a lawyer and politician, but he is keeping his options open while exploring other possible careers. He has been homeschooled since he moved to Missouri in 2012 and started taking classes online in 2014. While writing isn’t his passion, he enjoys working on the newspaper and giving back to Bright Ideas Press.
Emily Gomez is a senior in high school, from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She enjoys reading and writing (“Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” are her two favorite series). Music has always been an important part of her life (any Phantom of the Opera fans present?). She sings and plays ukulele, guitar, piano, flute, and pennywhistle. She loves playing and singing with other people and instruments, as well as spending time with family and friends. She has taken four years of Irish step dance, and three years of clogging. With Irish step, she has had the opportunity to dance at a few Irish and Scottish festivals in Tulsa, which is something she loves doing and hopes to do more of in the future. Some other favorites of hers are Studio C, tea, coffee, and MacGyver (the old one, not the new). She joined The Patchwork Press in the spring semester of her junior year, and so enjoyed it that she couldn’t wait to join again as a senior. She is looking forward to working with The Bright Ideas Beacon, and the staffers new and old alike, in the year to come!
Ellie Filipek, an enthusiastic young lady, has developed a passion for writing in the past year and will serve as a reporter with The Bright Ideas Beacon during the 2017/2018 school year. She is in 12th grade and will be graduating this year. Although nervous about life after school, she prays God will show her the path to take. Her favorite things to do include swimming, family time, reading, and anything in the kitchen. Trying new recipes is an enjoyable task for her, whether it is baking or cooking.
Ellie lives on a small farm with her three siblings and over thirty pets, including chickens, dogs, birds, turkeys, horses, a goat, and plenty of cats. This year will be her fourth year in 4-H.
Student Statesmanship Institute (SSI), a Michigan-based organization which teaches Christian students about government, has played an enormous part in her love for speaking and writing. During the summer of 2017, she participated in the SSI Media Tract and was introduced to many new skills, including interviewing people, writing articles, and reporting on important meetings. She hopes that this experience will help her mind to grow and follow God where He leads.
Jaedon Wilkinson is 14 years old and lives in Raleigh, NC. He is in 10th grade and is very excited to see what God has in store for him these next two semesters. Jaedon is the youngest of 5 children. One of his extracurricular activities is attending Civil Air Patrol a, civilian, youth branch of the Air Force dedicated to excellence, respect, integrity, and volunteer service. He enjoys most of his subjects and all of his teachers, though his number one teacher is his mom, who has been homeschooling him for his entire life. In his free time, he enjoys reading, acting, gaming, and writing. At The Bright Ideas Beacon, Jaedon is especially excited to be able to write on a subject he enjoys very much: books.
Joanna Scoggins, age 18, is a high school senior living in Monroe, Georgia. She is serving on The Bright Ideas Beacon this year as editor-in-chief. This is her first year with Bright Ideas Press, but her fifth year working on a student-run newspaper under Mrs. Jamie Anderson, The Beacon faculty advisor. Joanna is the youngest of five children and enjoys being Aunt Joanna to four nephews and one niece. Her mother is an English teacher at The Academy at Bright Ideas Press and has been Joanna’s greatest fan, encourager and prayer warrior.
Writing is Joanna’s passion. In the past year, she has taken her love for creative writing and put it to use as a short story writer, while also preparing her first novel for self-publishing. Her other creative outlet is music, piano, voice, and composing, specifically. She is considering a college major in either English or journalism.
Brendan Keefer is a 16 year-old homeschooled junior who has lived in China for the past nine years. He loves to read, write, play basketball, and spend time with his family. He is the oldest of six children, with two younger brothers and three younger sisters; one of which was adopted from China. Last year he was a part of Landry Academy’s Student Leadership Council (SLC) and during that experience he learned several important leadership skills. It was also during this experience that he became keenly interested in journalism as he watched a few fellow SLC members help put out a student-run newspaper, The Scholar’s Script. Earlier this year he was privileged to help write a book about life as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) and through that experience he realized that he had a love for writing. It was this, along with his desire to grow in his communication and teamwork skills, that led him to join The Bright Ideas Beacon at The Academy at Bright Ideas Press. It is his hope that through this opportunity he will become a better writer, thinker, and communicator.
Avery Hopkins is a high school senior, homeschooled by her loving, creative mother since kindergarten. She and her family currently reside in California, but, being the daughter of a military officer, she has lived in a total of eight different states and eleven different houses. She has three younger siblings, one sister and two brothers, and a playful, bright-eyed Jack Russell/Beagle mix. She enjoys writing fictional works as much as she enjoys writing non-fiction. She believes that fiction, if used wisely, can shed light on the real world. Music is another hobby of hers, specifically singing, songwriting, and playing the guitar, piano, and ukulele. She hopes to attend a Christian university next year, so that she can immerse herself in the worship arts. Most importantly, she loves the Lord with all her heart, saying, “Every time I take a silent moment to speak with Him in prayer and realize just how awesome He is, I come out of it bawling my eyes out because I know He loves me so much and has forgiven all my debts.” Her sole desire as a reporter for The Bright Ideas Beacon is to glorify Him alone through every word she writes!
Amaris James is the seventeen-year-old senior in charge of designing The Bright Ideas Beacon. This is her first year with Bright Ideas Press, but she has experience working as the Graphics and Photo Coordinator for The Scholar’s Script, and The Patchwork Press. She is thrilled to put her skills to the test as the Senior Design Editor.
In her spare time, Amaris likes to dabble in many creative endeavors, such as reading, writing, painting, and drawing. Hot chocolate and instrumental music always help fill the artistic meter. When not doing anything creative, she can be found reading Garfield comics, playing video games, or standing with her hand suspiciously near the cookie jar.
Emma Anderson is a high school senior from North Carolina, and her greatest passion is learning. No matter the subject, looking at the syllabus on the first day always gives Emma a thrill. In her free time (and while she washes the dishes), Emma loves to listen to music. Her favorite genre is country music, but she listens to Disney and classical music too. A new hobby for Emma is dancing; she is taking shag lessons, but she enjoys other types of dance as well. Emma also likes to play the piano, a skill she recently taught herself. She is always eager to play any sport, but her favorites are soccer and ultimate frisbee. Emma also loves to read. If she had to pick a favorite book, she’d probably pick the “Anne of Green Gables” series, but Emma has trouble choosing one book (or even one series) as a favorite. She’d prefer to give a list, which would include books like “The Zion Chronicles”, “Fahrenheit 451”, “Little Women”, and “Pride and Prejudice”. She’s looking forward to an exciting senior year, filled with things like teaching modern history and serving on the staff of The Bright Ideas Beacon.
Gabrielle (Brie) Alberg is a high school senior who lives in the foothills of the Ozarks with her beloved family (cats and dog included). She frequents her creek and pond tucked back in the woods, drinking in the nature she enjoys most. In addition to writing, Brie loves photography, singing and painting. She immerses herself in several activities, including co-leading worship at her youth group, serving on a student focus group, and working at her local food pantry. Having served on the paper during 2016-17, she looks forward to adding “devotional columnist” to her list of activities again and anticipates a wonderful year with The Bright Ideas Beacon staff.
As high school graduation quickly approaches, she is preparing to attend a small Bible school in Kansas City and study worship leading. Brie desires to live in complete surrender to her first Love, reflecting His beauty as clearly as a reflection can be seen in a mirror. She gives God the glory and chooses to shine His light, living for Him to the end, no matter what He may place in her path.
Colin Sink, a fifteen-year-old sophomore, is excited to be serving as this year’s columns editor for The Bright Ideas Beacon. This will be his second year on a student -run newspaper, having served last year as book reviews columnist for Landry Academy’s The Scholar’s Script and then on The Patchwork Press.
In his free time, Colin enjoys playing sports (ultimate frisbee and baseball, for example), reading books (some of his favorites are “The Thief” and “The Mysterious Benedict Society”), and listening to music (such as Twenty One Pilots or Imagine Dragons). He lives in Illinois and is the third of four boys.
Colin is looking forward to working on The Bright Ideas Beacon and getting to know all of the staff. He hopes to finish the year a better writer, editor, and friend. Most importantly, however, Colin is a Christian who desires to follow God’s Word and to serve and please Him first.
Sarah Slack is a high school junior living with her lovely parents in a small town in the great state of Texas. She has a brother 13 years her senior, living nearby with his family, and she enjoys being able to see her nephew and niece often. Though a bit reserved, she loves to make others laugh. She passes her spare time by singing, playing the piano, and (believe it or not), cleaning/organizing. She is excited to be The Bright Ideas Beacon copy editor for the upcoming school year, looking forward to making new friends and doing purposeful work. Sarah is grateful for this opportunity.
Upon graduation, she would like to attend a school in-state; however, she is unsure of what she will major in. She hopes to work in a field that utilizes her skills and gives her a sustainable income. For now, she simply trusts God to guide her steps and reveal His perfect plan for her. She accepted Him as Savior after coming to the realization He is the only one she can fully rely upon, and that He is the best of Friends. Ultimately, she lives only for Him, giving Him kingship over her circumstances.
Yes! Sign me up!
Subscribe to receive current news and updates from The Academy at Bright Ideas Press.