2005 Homeschooling's Best Award Recipients Announced

The awards, sponsored by Calvert School, recognize people who have improved homeschooling in four categories -- Hero, Pioneer, Advocate and Voice.

Homeschooling’s Best Pioneers -- Joyce and Eric Burges of Baker, La. When Joyce and Eric Burges began homeschooling in fall 1989, the couple was one of the few African American families who had chosen this option. Realizing that little information was available to the black community on resources and how to go about homeschooling, Joyce and Eric Burges formed an organization, the National Black Home Education Resource Association, to provide black families with information and resources to homeschool. Since its start in 2000, the group has continued to grow.

In 2002, the group expanded its reach through the Internet with a Website, http://www.nbhera.org/, which Joyce Burges describes as “a place where people can go and feel the warmth that a homeschool family’s home would have.” The site features links to state laws, local contacts, how to homeschool information, and hurricane relief resources. In addition to the Website and the organization, Eric and Joyce Burges, a professional singer and homeschool mother of five, take part in more than 25 interviews a year about homeschooling. Eric Burges is a budget manager with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

The growth of the National Black Home Education Resource Association parallels the growth in homeschooling among African Americans.

Congratualtions to the Burges Family!