The Youth Speak is a new magazine, written and designed entirely by youth who are either currently homeschooled or have graduated from a home education. Homeschoolers who are not on our writing team are still allowed to submit articles (see Contributing) to possibly be in the magazine. Our magazines may be read online for free, and physical copies are available for $5 locally or $9 with shipping.
The Youth Speak is meant to serve several purposes:
ONE. Give homescoolers an outlet
We want to give homeschooled students an outlet to share their work. At the same time, we do not want to encourage a barrage of low-quality writing. We want to encourage excellence. We want to encourage people to do things heartily as to the Lord. (See Colossians 3:23.) We keep our standards high for what we accept, both in terms of written quality as well as Christian purity. If their work is used, the homeschooled writer gets to see their work showcased by it being graphically designed by someone on our team, and put into our magazine.
TWO. Give people a wholesome read
There is so much "junk" out there in the world. We want this magazine to be a wholesome read - one that is pure and well-pleasing to our Father, as well as well-written and well-designed.
THREE. Showcase what homeschoolers are capable of
A family may be considering homeschooling because all of their other options are deeply lacking, but yet cautious because of the reputation that homeschooling has. But homeschool is not something you need to settle for; it is more like something to climb to. It is an excellent form of education. It is an education where you yourself can be with your children, and yourself decide what they should or should not learn about. We hope this magazine showcases the quality of work that can come through homeschoolers.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, to be well-pleasing to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our little team (just ten students as of writing this) is made up of Christian youth who are either currently homeschooled or who have graduated from a home education. Some of our team members are specifically part of our writing team, while others are part of our graphic design team, and some are even on both. Unlike contributors, which can submit writing while working at their own pace, our writing and graphic design teams are expected to be more consistently working as well as regularly attending our once-a-week in-person meetings in Pinehurst, NC.
For our team, this is both an outlet and a class. Some of our graphic designers had very little experience on a computer before joining. But we teach them software and show them general graphic design principles. Throughout the graphic designing process, we help correct them and point things out. Likewise with our writers, we hope this not only encourages them, but also grows their skills.
Contributors may be very young and still submit writing, whereas our team writers and designers should be between the ages of 12 and 24. Please let us know if you have any interest in joining one of our teams.