Citizens' High School wants you to meet our Graduate
of the Month for September 2001. Her name is Brandy
Painter, and she hails from a small town to the
south of Topeka Kansas called Melvern.
The name Melvern is actually an error. The town
was originally called Malvern after Malvern Hill
in Scotland but when the town was given its charter
it was misspelled and the name stuck. The town was
located on the Sauk and Fox Indian reservation and
received it's charter in the 1850's.
Melvern is located in Osage County. The name Osage
comes from the Osage River, the headwaters of which
stream drain almost the entire county.
The first mention of Melvern came in the Weekly Osage
Chronicle of May 14, 1870. "Melvin is the name
of a new town about to be laid out at the mouth
of Long Creek ... Success to the new town of Melvin."
School was held in Oscar Beck's log house at first,
but by 1872 had outgrown that, and a schoolhouse
was built. On July 10, 1884, the newspaper printed
a list of 26 buildings built in Melvern since January
1. The population of the city was 491 in 1886, and
neither increased nor declined significantly after
that. Today, the population of Melvern is approximately
423 consisting of approximately 197 families.
Brandy settled in Melvern after moving around frequently.
These moves made it very difficult to achieve any
continuity in her schooling. She chose homestudy
and Citizens' to provide that continuity. "Citizens'
program made it easy for me to keep up with my studies."
Brandy experienced what many young adults experience
as a result of having to change school districts
often. The politically approved curriculum is different
in every school district, and may not be in the
best interest of the students. The quality of the
teachers varies greatly depending on not only the
state, but also the neighborhood where the school
is located. These problems an many more issues facing
government run schools made the decision to homeschool
easy for Brandy and her younger sister Amy.
Brandy completed the 10th through 12th academic
years with Citizens' High School and earned her
diploma with a 3.6 GPA. Brandy did not rest on her
accomplishments. She is now enrolled with the Stratford
Career Institute, studying to become a Veterinary
Assistant. Living on a farm does tend to make one
appreciative of animals and want to care for them.
We wish Brandy good fortune. She is well on her
way to a life of fulfillment. Her life's ambitions
are now possible with her diploma and her desire.
Thank you Brandy for choosing homeschooling and
thank you for choosing Citizens' High School.
You are ... Citizen's High School Graduate
of the Month for September 2001.
