Savannah Thomas rode horses, played the violin and ran long distances over earth and gravel as she studied her way to college. She even sports a letter jacket with patches for her exploits.

Difference is, the soft-spoken 17-year-old didn’t do it at Vicksburg or Warren Central high school. She did so while being taught at home.

“Even though I’m home-schooled, I can still do all the stuff that public students can do,” Thomas said Wednesday in an address to the Vicksburg Lions Club. “For the cross-country, I can’t just participate in a meet — because I’m home-schooled. What we do is search for races, and some races I do are equivalent of a 5K, or three miles.”

Mississippi home school students don’t participate in sports and extracurricular activities at brick-and-mortar public schools. They’d be able to do so under a bill moving through the state Senate this week.

The Senate Education Committee approved Senate Bill 2329 on a split voice vote Tuesday, sending it to the full Senate for more debate.

Thomas, part of a small home school group called Crimson Conservatory, said the decision to join was one of family and faith. The group is part of the larger Vicksburg Christian Home Educators and incorporates theology in with language arts and algebra courses offered in public and parochial schools for students her age. Groups of about 30 gather on Wednesdays at Calvary Baptist Church for workshops on art and music, said Thomas’ father, Howard.

Cross-enrollment this past semester at Hinds Community College helped her aptitude in chemistry, where paid instruction was better than online materials purchased off Amazon Prime. Thomas called the membership program her “best friend” when it comes to learning products. Their bank notarizes transcripts for college that the Thomas’s create and, short of a traditional diploma, the ACT becomes paramount, Howard Thomas said.

She volunteers in the community, but said her cross-country days are about done once she starts Blue Mountain College, where she has applied. The Mississippi Baptist Convention-run school is in Ripley, in northeast Mississippi.

“I don’t plan it, because I want to focus everything on my music,” Thomas said. “I will be continuing violin, swimming and running every now and then.”

Supporters have dubbed the legislation the Tim Tebow Act, after the former Heisman-winning University of Florida quarterback who took advantage of such provisions in the Sunshine State. The Mississippi Home Educators Association, a group of Christian home schoolers, had opposed the bill as written, warning that it could be a backdoor attempt to impose state guidelines. The association was particularly concerned about a passage that said parents must provide documents showing a child is adhering to the same academic standards as public school students. Lawmakers said that passage was intended to make participants take the same standardized tests as public school students.

Sports and band would be opened up to home school students under the bill, authored by state Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall. Currently, the Mississippi High School Activities Association regulates high school sports for public schools and some private schools, and sanctions competitions in band, chorus, cheerleading, dance, speech and debate.

Don Hinton, executive director of the association, declined comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday, saying he needed more time to study the bill.

Howard Thomas, an administrator at Lockheed Martin, said his daughter’s situation and that of his home-schooled 10- and 12-year-old sons isn’t a solution for everyone having problems with traditional schools.

“It’s not as easy as regular school,” he said. “The best candidates for home schools are working dads and stay-at-home moms. I went to public school, because both of my parents worked.”

He said subscription-based services online shopped often by home school parents doesn’t come cheaply, up to $4,000 for nine months of the music curriculum. But it could be worth it in the end — especially if Savannah can bring up her ACT score Saturday.

“She’s at a 27, and she’s hoping to make a 29,” he said. “That way, she’ll be covered.”

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.