This week, homeschoolers were purposefully - as specifically stated in the rules - left out of the opportunity to win $5,000 of athlectic equipment by entering a contest hosted by Subway restaurants.  It was just another opportunity for homeschoolers to 'educate' others to the fact that we, too, can use $5,000 worth of athletic equipment.  Not that a family would keep it, but that homeschoolers use YMCA gyms, church gyms, and even some Christian school gyms for our physical education.

HSLDA spoke for all of us by sending them the letter below.  Today, HSLDA recieved an apology from Subway restaurants and a promise to include us in other contests - see the letter at the bottom.

They don't know unless we tell them...so anytime something like this happens PLEASE LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!  Even now, we may want to write an e-mail on the Subway website to THANK them for finally recognizing that there are OVER 2 million homeschoolers in America and appreciate their change of heart.

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

Frederick A. DeLuca, President
Subway Restaurant Headquarters
325 Bic Drive
Milford, CT 06461-3059

Dear Mr. DeLuca:

By way of introduction, I am the President of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and we represent 83,000 member families nationwide. This letter is to draw attention to your “Every Sandwich Tells a Story Contest,” and the unfortunate fact that homeschoolers are not allowed to participate.

The rules clearly state: “Contest is open only to legal residents of the United States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted (emphasis added).”

It is extremely disappointing that Subway would choose to exclude the estimated 2 million homeschooled students.

We understand that the competition is focused on traditional public and private schools because the grand prize of $5,000 of athletic equipment is designed to be used by a traditional school and not an individual family. A potential homeschool winner, however, could simply donate the grand prize to a public or private school of their choice or to a homeschool sports league.

Homeschooling is a thriving educational option. All the available research shows that homeschoolers are excelling academically and socially. We do not deserve to be overlooked.

We hope that you will reconsider the rules of your competition and choose to amend them to include homeschoolers.

Sincerely,

J. Michael Smith
HSLDA President

Subway Apologizes

HSLDA is pleased to pass along the following apology from Subway restaurants.

To HSLDA:

We at SUBWAY restaurants place a high value on education, regardless of the setting, and have initiated a number of programs and promotions aimed at educating our youth in the areas of health and fitness.

We sincerely apologize to anyone who feels excluded by our current essay contest. Our intention was to provide an opportunity for traditional schools, many of which we know have trouble affording athletic equipment, to win equipment. Our intent was certainly not to exclude homeschooled children from the opportunity to win prizes and benefit from better access to fitness equipment.

To address the inadvertent limitation of our current contest and provide an opportunity for even more kids to improve their fitness, we will soon create an additional contest in which homeschooled students will be encouraged to participate. When the kids win, everyone wins!