Teenager Takes on School Prayer, Following Activist Father into Battle

January 10, 2008

Author: Nara Schoenberg

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0110atheistjan10,0,5018956.story

The No. 2 atheist activist in Illinois doesn't have an office or a car.

Reporters have been banned from her home -- her mother is adamant on this point -- so the McDonald's across the street from Buffalo Grove High School has to serve as her impromptu media headquarters.

None of which is surprising, when you consider that Dawn Sherman is all of 14.

Her lawsuit challenging the new Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act in Illinois has already resulted in a temporary injunction blocking the law's mandatory moment of silence for the 13,000 students in Township High School District 214. Now, she and the No. 1 atheist activist in Illinois -- her father, Rob -- are going after a bigger prize: They want the law struck down as unconstitutional.