The NorthStar Narrative
The NorthStar Narrative
Taking a Deeper Look at NSA's Graduation Weekend Celebration
Join us as we reflect on NorthStar Academy's sixth in-person graduation celebration! Jessica, who manages the event logistics, shares her behind-the-scenes experiences and the profound sense of community these gatherings cultivate. Graduation weekend is not just a ceremony for our graduates. It is a weekend packed with engaging activities, from lunch and games to a special worship and commissioning time. We even had a prom-like graduation party that added an extra layer of excitement and camaraderie this year. We shine a light on the unwavering dedication of NorthStar's faculty and staff, whose efforts make these memorable events possible, and then wrap up with heartfelt gratitude for the teamwork and enthusiasm that breathe life into NorthStar's mission. Don't miss out on this heartwarming episode celebrating the resilience and spirit of our amazing students and staff.
Hi, this is Stephanie Schaefer and you're listening to the North Star Narrative, a podcast from North Star Academy. I want to thank you for joining us. I hope you're encouraged, challenged and motivated by what you learned today. Enjoy the story. Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast this week. It's a fun one because Jessica Armstrong is joining me and we are going to spend a few moments reflecting on Northstar's in-person graduations. Yep, that's right. Did you know that we have in-person graduations? I hope so, if you've been around for a while. If not, and you're just checking us out, yes, we do, and it's an incredible time. We just had our sixth graduation in June 2024.
Speaker 1:So we want to talk about that one and some of ours in the past and hopefully, if you're going to be joining North Star, you've been around. You're looking forward to coming and having that awesome opportunity to meet other parents and students. So yeah, Jessica, thanks so much for joining me today and letting us just talk about our graduation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm excited to be here. I love graduation. It's my favorite thing that we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think everybody loves it that gets to come and be a part of it, and our staff does such a great job just serving the parents and students and I think they do that because, yeah, it is fun. It is true, relationships that we've already built and then getting to be in person and hug and see each other is really amazing. So jessica heads up a lot of the graduation stuff as far as organizing all the logistics, which is so, so important. We couldn't pull it off without all of that. Of course we have a team that all works together. But okay, jessica, I think the first year Dan and I kind of got it started and led, but then I think you took off right after that because you had so much fun. So what has it been like to really be heading that up and what have you learned over the years, just as it's kind of evolved and changed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been fun to head it up. Logistics is my bread and butter so I love planning and organizing Throughout the years. It's been fun to kind of evolve graduation weekend, getting to see people in person that you see on the screen. It always just adds more to the word community at North Star, to me just knowing at the end of the year we have this big in-person get-together and it's not just the graduates and their families, we invite the North Star community as a whole. So it's just fun. It's fun to get to see everybody and watch all of the planning come to life.
Speaker 1:And, what's really cool, more and more every year, alumni have come, especially those that have graduated in the past because they want to be a part of it, and also students that aren't even graduating yet. Families will come just because they want to see what's happening and and their kids want to see other kids in person. So it's not just our graduating families. So if you're a family or if you just want to check more out about North Star, you are welcome to come to our graduation next year. We haven't picked a date yet, but do you think it's going to be in June 2025? Probably? Yeah, we finalized that date in October, but we always plan for June. Yeah, seems to be a good month, all right. So not all graduates come Usually each year, except for a COVID year, we might have had more.
Speaker 1:We have over a hundred graduates at North Star, but all of them can't come, probably because they, you know, are pretty far away. But we do have families that travel from Colombia, singapore, uganda. This year and every year we've had them from all over. So it doesn't stop some families from coming, and I remember talking to our family from Singapore and the father was just like she wanted to come, my daughter wanted to come, I wanted to bring her and so, oh, they had a lot of flights, they had a long way here and a long way home, but she said like it was so worth it to come, and just the smiles on people's faces is incredible. So tell us a little bit about what we do, because it's not just get on a stage, get a diploma and leave.
Speaker 2:What do we do at graduation? We've turned it into a whole weekend so we have what we call just our in-person meetup on Friday. Our graduation is typically on a Saturday, so we do an in-person meetup on Friday where everybody comes. There's lunch and games and times for parents to get together and share with one another. We do what we call a graduation panel, which is where it's a really special time Our alumni who come sit with the graduates who are about to receive their diploma and they just share what life is like after graduation.
Speaker 2:They share just tips and tricks, whether they're going into the workforce or college or taking a gap year, whatever that looks like. They're able to pour into the graduates and that I know is just such a special into the graduates and that I know, is just such a special time for them. And then we have games. We have a whole afternoon full of just time for them to hang out and bond they. I honestly do not think we would have to structure anything If we just gave them a place to hang out and sit and talk. It's so much fun for them. We do, at the end of that day, do a time of worship and commissioning for the graduates and just pray over them and that time is so special. But then, yeah, we sort of wrap up the day and get ready for the day that they're all nervous about, but it all goes perfectly.
Speaker 1:We added something this year because of the students said they wanted to have a prom. Like they didn't get to do that, you know, with an online school, and so we did it after. We called it the after party from Friday, the night before graduation, but it was lots of fun because we had staff there and students and some parents and, yeah, they got to dress up and hang out and take fun pictures, so it was really, really a fun time that we added this year. Okay, so then we get up Saturday morning. What happens?
Speaker 2:They have to be there bright and early.
Speaker 2:We do graduation rehearsal, so our rehearsal is the same day as the ceremony and we run through that a couple of times just to get all of the nerves out and let them know what to expect, what that's going to look like, Anybody who has a speaking part or maybe singing or something like that. They all get to run through those lines and it just takes the nerves away and gets them excited about the day. And then it's time for photos. So we hire a professional photographer and videographer to come and just capture the whole weekend. They do take those professional senior shots so that really makes it special and official to them. And then the parents obviously love it. They get those photos as memories forever. But we have lunch and just hang out and get ready for the ceremony. Our parents actually come with the students and while the students are kind of doing the photos and all of that, they get to go and set up a special memorabilia table which the students will then see during the reception after the ceremony. So that is always special too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, each student gets their own table.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and sometimes the students kind of know they may have been a part of the planning, but I love it when the parents don't share what they're doing for their table and they see it for the first time. That makes it a lot of fun, and just to see their smiles at the reception is good. But yeah, then we have the ceremony and it seems like all of the planning comes down to that and then it's over so fast. It seems like all of the planning comes down to that and then it's over so fast. But it truly is just such a special ceremony. And at the end one of my favorite things, one of my favorite there's so many favorite things One of my favorite things we do is that our graduates give their parents, guardians, whomever they want, a rose, and that's something that I had never heard of until North Star's graduation.
Speaker 2:The parents sometimes don't know it's coming, so like seeing those hugs and them embrace, it's just really cool. And then, probably my absolute favorite thing that we do is we incorporate our in-person and virtual graduates so we actually offer a way for if you can't come in person, you can still participate in the ceremony virtually, and so that's a lot of fun, but they shoot a little video from home of them in their cap and gown turning their tassel and we play that. We put them all together and kind of sync them up and play it at the same time as the in-person graduates are turning their tassel, and that moment blows me away. Every year and then after we do a big reception and that is always so much fun. They just value that time and the whole weekend.
Speaker 1:They usually stay at a hotel like they figure out beforehand and they stay. We've got three hotels that are like right together, I think, and so they'll stay there and make plans and do stuff Friday night, Thursday night, Saturday night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we were super blessed this year. One of our alumni, elena, did a lot of videoing for us and she captured a lot of that. So she was staying at the hotel with Autumn so they would hang out. One of the hotels had a soundproof room and they allowed all of the kids to go in there and hang out into late hours of the night. But a lot of that was also captured on video for them to have captured on video for them to have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you can check out the video on our YouTube channel, northstar Academy One, on our social media Facebook, instagram so check out Elena's video, our professional photographer and videographer, heather and Joel Strahan. So they are great. They really know how to capture the story and so if you are local around here and you need a photographer, they are the ones to get. So I'm sure we have their links too. We'll put their link as well to their website and all that they offer. So we're so thankful because God's really brought some special people around and it is a big family event. You feel part of something that's bigger than you and so incredible celebration of all God has done in each of these students' lives. And then you know, we just get to see it and be a part of it. So we'd love for you to come when you have a student that's graduating, or students, if you're listening, come and join us, hang out, even if you're not graduating.
Speaker 1:Yeah, can you think of any one student over the past six years that had an incredible story? I know, while you're thinking, one real quick. So I met Parker this year and Parker had never really engaged much, like he hadn't met the students that are graduating online. But he came and you would never have known it, like they all became quick friends and just had so much fun together watching these smiles on their faces. So you don't have to have huge relationships online Now most of our kids do but it's cool to see how they can come together for the first time, but also saying all that it is possible and we do have incredible relationships online, even if you never get to meet in person, and that is something that's really special and we're really intentional about providing that community. But can you think of a student? A story from one of our graduations Kids come to North Star for multiple reasons.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's health reasons, sometimes they're on their families, are on the mission field and they need that flexibility.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's athletes or students that are in theater or horseback riding all of these different things. So getting to see all of those stories come together at the end and graduate and get to see that they also got to do what they're passionate about and that they love Like I think of Cora and Lydia. Cora her family lives in Mexico and she was able to not only have that great education and get to participate and just be in her community authentically, but she also got to be student council president and be a part of the North Star community and it blows me away that these kids are so invested in what they are passionate about but also forming these relationships that are going to last. But also Lydia she's been in theater and has been able to just pour so much into that and her singing and just everything she's so passionate about it. They're both going to a music school. They get to pursue those passions even past North Star. So getting to see that is really fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Lydia and Cora both came the years before yeah yeah, before they ever graduated. So it's amazing to see the friendships, yeah. So so thankful to Jessica for all that she does to make it possible. And each year we try to have different staff come that we've never met in person. So this year we got to meet Tasha, one of our senior advisors, which is really cool. Her and her husband came and teachers will come. Kami got to come, cammie Downs and her husband this year, and so it was really cool to have her. And then we had one of our very own teachers, karen Willis, play the piano for the graduation, which was fun. So each year we get to have different staff and faculty.
Speaker 2:It was really fun too, because Cammie had done this project called Seeds of Hope and staff and faculty. It was really fun too, because Cammie had done this project called Seeds of Hope and students and faculty and staff even she had put out there. You were supposed to cut out a seed and just decorate it with what signified hope in your life, and she had put all of that together and she actually brought the project and set it up in the reception. So all the students, faculty and staff everybody got to see that. And that's just another example of just because you're online does not mean you're not doing tangible things in the world. So it was really fun to see the culmination of that too, and I know the students and graduates loved it. So, yeah, it's really fun seeing all of the different faculty and staff come together because we're online too. You know we're not in a building every day seeing each other, so it's just as fun for us as it is for the students.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so thankful for each one of the staff and faculty that come and play a role, whether it's preparing food, serving food during the reception or grabbing the lunch for the students, or, yeah, hosting the parents and hosting the parent Parent time is really sweet, where they get to give testimonies, and so we're also going to put the link with some of our testimonies from parents, which are really special, and you can find out more about their families, their students' experience. That's really cool, yeah, but just caring for the parents, all the staff, there's so much done. There's a lot to be done with making the sound perfect, the lighting, the brochures, you know everything. So, so, so thankful for all of the staff that come together. But again, my highlight, I think, is the joy that you see on all the staff and faculty's faces. Nothing is like hard or, you know, being forced People volunteer to come and help. And Jeff, our IT director, he came and really plugged into a lot of the fun, like the after party and was DJing and yeah, so just the smiles on their faces really make it just a joy to serve at Northstar.
Speaker 1:So, looking forward to 2025, graduation and what we're going to add this year. So join us if you can at some point, but we just wanted to let you know we do have an in-person graduation and there's lots of other avenues and ways and opportunities to build relationships here at Northstar, so check us out. Thanks so much, jessica. Just reflecting here on graduation and all that you do to make it possible to have it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's fun. Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for listening today. If you have any questions for our guest or would like information about Northstar, please email us. At podcast at NSA dot school, we love having guests on our show and getting to hear their stories. If you have anyone in mind that you think would be a great guest to feature, please email us and let us know. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on upcoming stories.