When Jake Mahon began the 2008-2009 school year as a sophomore at Arlington High School, he was not the average transfer student. Instead of merely meeting peers and teachers in a public-school environment, the whole experience was new for him because Mahon had previously been homeschooled.

Many think homeschoolers are weird and socially awkward because they have not been educated in the traditional school setting, but homeschoolers have shown this is not true.

"The one thing I have noticed about Jake that surprised me is that he is not afraid to speak out in class or give his opinion,” Rebecca Walsh, Mahon's English teacher, said in an interview during the school year.

Before he came to classes at AHS, Mahon was not stuck inside his house all day. Instead, he was involved in classes with other homeschoolers and participated in high school sports. In fact, as homeschooling has grown more popular, the educational experience has changed. Instead of sitting around the dining room table all day, students now participate in many classes and extracurricular activities with other homeschooled or public high school students.

As a high school freshman, Mahon was the first homeschooled student to participate in public high school sports at AHS. In order to play on the boys' soccer team, he and his mother met with AHS Principal Charles Skidmore, Ted Dever, the director of athletics, and the soccer coach to create a specific set of rules.

"If the coach put him on detention, he had to stay in his room," said Elizabeth Mahon, his mom. Jake never got a detention. He also had to pass at least half of his classes conducted with his parents. Knowing people from the soccer and wrestling teams helped Mahon adjust to attending AHS.

"He is lovely to work with, extremely bright, and adjusted well to life outside of home schooling," said Jennifer Scharf, Mahon's history teacher.

Although many homeschoolers take classes during the school day with other homeschoolers, in ninth grade, Mahon was teaching himself everything at home, except for a combined history and an online English course. "History is a lot easier in a class," Mahon said.

While many homeschoolers have done extremely well with the guidance of only their parents, modern homeschoolers have created a system of online classes, co-ops where parents teach each other's children, and tutorials where teachers teach small groups of homeschoolers. These resources allow homeschoolers to do most of the work on their own while maintaining control of their education but still receiving the guidance of adults other than their parents.

Although he enjoyed the freedom of homeschooling, Mahon sometimes became frustrated with teaching himself. "I wanted teachers," Mahon said of his decision to come to public school.

"I liked homeschooling because it is more relaxed. You can learn more if you apply yourself," Mahon said.

As a freshman, he woke up between 8 and 9 a.m., did his work, and finished by the time his friends got out of public school. "I never had work on the weekends," he said. He taught himself and made his own schedule.

Mahon's parents originally decided to homeschool Jake for academic excellence, but the times spent together at home during the day improved family relationships as well.

"We became a team as a family. The chance to work on character as family was great. The academic excellence just came," Mrs. Mahon said.

She found that as their family worked on positive character qualities -- such as responsibility, self-control, integrity, and diligence -- her children became self-motivated and interested in learning. Instead of pushing them to learn, they were choosing education on their own.

Apparently, Mahon continues to have that attitude in public school. "He is a really hard worker," said Ms. Walsh, his English teacher.

Bethany Stobbe, a graduate of Arlington High School, was coeditor of The Ponder Report in her senior year.