Christopher Van Egmond
Wilberforce Scholarship - $1,500
June 2007
Congratulations to Christopher Van Egmond, the winner of this year’s Wilberforce Scholarship, an AFHE Designated Scholarship for students majoring in journalism, law, public policy, business, political science, economics or related fields. A Tempe resident, Christopher has been active in the homeschooling community for many years, including participation in Veritas Homeschoolers, MathCounts, East Valley Athletes for Christ, East Valley Homeschool Choir, and MoezArt. He has served communities here and abroad by playing piano at a senior care facility, volunteering with special-needs children, serving the poor and the homeless, and working at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. His love for business developed through his work as an assistant for Bended Knee Design and as a salesman for Woodbury School Books. Christopher has been honored as a National Merit Scholar and has been accepted into ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and Barrett, The Honors College. He writes, “I would never trade my homeschool experience for any other path. I will be forever grateful to my parents for their effort and dedication to my well-being. From books to overseas travel to local performances and competitions, my experience has been amazing. For the future, my plan is to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing at ASU, reach out to my fellow students and business acquaintances with the Gospel, and let God lead on from there.”

Mathewe Shaw
$1,200 Scholarship
June 2007
Matthew Shaw has been homeschooled throughout his education. He is active in his church discipleship group, honor society, Youth and Government, and his local homeschool group. Matthew has volunteered by helping repair hurricane damaged homes in Grenada and assisting a local Hispanic church. He has earned the National Merit Scholarship, Youth and Government outstanding first year senator award, debate tournament championship along with teammate, and was the treasurer of the honor society. After completing a year at Arizona State University, he plans on finishing his degree in computer science at Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University.

Samuel Robinson
$500 Scholarship
June 2007
I was very honored to be one of the recipients of the AFHE scholarship. I consider it a privilege that your organization would want to invest in my future. My accomplishments over the last four years have included being a National Commended Merit Scholar, participant of the three State championship LifeSmarts teams. I was also the winner of the 2006 Jack Boehle Cross Country Invitational, and received a 3rd place finish at the 2006 4A Division 2 Cross Country State Championships. In the fall I will be attending Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Oregon. At this time, I intend to major in Mathematics. I also plan to run cross country at Northwest Christian College. I want to also emphasize that any of my accomplishments are God’s grace upon me. The most important thing in my life is to glorify Him in all I do. I wish to thank my family, church and friends for their support and prayers throughout my high school years. I would especially like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ without whom I could do nothing.

Casey Neal
$500 Scholarship
June 2007
Hi, my name is Casie Neal, and I am frequently plagued with the disease known as “writer’s block-itis”. Oddly enough, bouts of this infirmity seem to strike whenever I am required to write about myself. Be that as it may, I aim to give you a brief synopsis of the life my parents named “Casie”. I have been homeschooled my whole life, and have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the homeschool process. (That does not mean I relished every moment of algebra, however!) My hobbies and interests include piano, choir, serving at East Valley Bible Church, volleyball with the East Valley Athletes for Christ, and drama with Moezart Productions. Aside from organized activities, I enjoy gardening, reading, cooking, and engaging in fierce games of Scattergories.

In the fall, I plan to attend Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. It’s a mouthful if I ever heard one! I chose it because I have always wanted to take on the adventure of an out-of-state college without the hazards of a secular environment. The school is also my mom’s alma mater, which explains how I heard of the school to begin with. While there, my goal is to earn a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education. I’m very excited about being able to bring the out-of-the-box methodology of homeschooling to the modern classroom.

Christian Peter John Sprunger
$1,200 Scholarship
June 2007
Christian Sprunger was born in Kijabe, Kenya, Africa. He spent his early years homeschooling as an MK in Swaziland, South Africa and attending a Christian Academy in Guatemala, Central America. Having
aviation missionaries for parents gave him an international start in life. He has homeschooled here in Arizona since Grade 5.

Christian prepared well in academics, achieving Commended Scholar for his performance on the PSAT Exam. He has completed high school with a 4.0 average and plans to go on to Biola University this fall. Christian was accepted into the Torrey Honors Institute there and will study Great Books via the Socratic method. He plans to major in Biological Sciences, Pre-Med at Biola. His goal is to study medicine after university to become an emergency room doctor. The AFHE scholarship will help to make this next step possible for Christian. Thank you.

In high school Christian Bible Quizzed at the local, state, regional, and national levels altogether 6 years. In doing so he has memorized every verse of every chapter of the books of Matthew, Acts, Romans, and James! He has co-captained and captained his local church team, leading them to # 1 at Regional Bible Quiz (5 southwestern states). He helped his team win #1 at Nationals out of 9,000 Bible quizzers. Christian’s personal scores in these competitions have brought him to #1 in the Region and #3 in the Nation, all while hiding the Word of God in his heart.

Musically, Christian Sprunger has pursued the piano for 7 years, performing in recitals, and for audiences and competition. He also participated as a bass in the Handel Music Oratorio, singing “The Messiah” at the local community college. Athletically, Christian was a member of the local AYSO soccer organization, playing 6 consecutive years, including 2 years in the All-Star division.

Christian was privileged to attend 4 weeks of summer academic leadership camps through two outstanding organizations: World View Academy and Summit Ministries out of Colorado Springs. These gave him invaluable preparation to lead and speak in his local church youth group now, as well as to defend his faith as he steps forth to new challenges in life.

Finally Christian has given his life to OTHERS. Throughout his high school years he has volunteered 600 hours for a local mission base, Heart for Missions. Additionally he has been on more than 15 mission trips to Mexico: assisting with planting gardens for agri-missions among the Seri Indians; helping to construct an orphanage in Guaymas, Sonora; doing outreach to children and youth via VBS, soccer, and the Jesus Film; assisting, even running, a pharmacy in Spanish for mobile medical clinics throughout villages across Sonora. Here in Arizona, Christian was certified for First Aid and CPR. He has worked more than 100 hours this year in the Yavapai Regional Medical Center as an emergency room volunteer, leading him toward his future plans as he follows Jesus Christ, his Lord.