The NorthStar Narrative
The NorthStar Narrative
Building Community and Leadership at NorthStar Academy
Can an online school truly foster deep, meaningful connections? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Tiana and Nathan, two of NSA's Student Council, as they share their inspiring journey of building a welcoming online community. Drawing from their rich experiences in England and the Middle East, they unveil innovative strategies like hosting virtual calls and assigning committee members to virtual school buildings on Microsoft Teams. This episode is a treasure trove of insights into how they’ve successfully created an engaging environment that nurtures lasting friendships and valuable leadership opportunities.
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, thanks so much for joining us for this episode today. I'm always extra excited when we have North Star students on the show, and so I can't wait for you to hear from Tiana and Nathan, who are students at North Star Academy and on our student council as welcome committee leaders this year. So I want you to get to know their hearts, hear a little bit about their experience and understand what we have here at North Star for our community, our social life, all the kinds of different opportunities for students to get involved. They're going to tell you about that and they just really have a heart for the Lord and building community and making sure students are welcome. So I'm so thankful, tiana and Nathan, that you would join me for a few minutes today. Hi, it's great to be here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely looking forward to getting to share a little bit with people.
Speaker 1:Yay Again, I'm so thankful for both of you and that you are just really pouring in to students here and that you are just really pouring in to students here, and these two students have a lot of innovation and learning that they do, and so that's part of our core values here at North Star. They've been thinking about how they can make the welcome committee better and stronger and gather volunteers, so I really really appreciate that about them today. All right, so let's start with you, deanna. Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, how long you've been at Northstar and maybe one of your favorite things about being a student online.
Speaker 2:So I kind of live everywhere currently in England and I have been at Northstar. This will be my fourth year. I like that we can build communities with people all over the world and that most students don't really care how old you are, what grade you're in, they're just so welcoming to everybody. Yeah, that's one of my favorite things about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that too. What about you, Nathan? Where are you living right now? How long have you been here? What do you love about North Star?
Speaker 3:I'm currently in the Middle East. This is my third year and probably my favorite thing about NSA specifically would be again, yeah, community, just the friends I've made. Friends you can make, as Tiana said, it doesn't really matter what age, what grade, where you are in the world. You still can make friends and I think that's the best part.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love those two things, that both of you are in different parts of the world. So all three of us I'm in Mississippi in the US, and this is what it's like to be at Northstar a lot. So you get on a Zoom call, a Teams call, and you've got students on all different continents and from different areas. So I love the global experience we get to have because we're learning from each other, right, everybody's in a different culture, different place, and so we can ask questions. So that's one thing that's so great about the community. And then I love that both of you want to build the community, so so thankful and grateful for y'all. So tell us a little bit about the welcome committee. What is that at Northstar and what is your goal this year?
Speaker 2:The welcome committee basically just welcomes all the new students at NSA and we'll like host different calls, be sort of everywhere in all the buildings just to make it a really warm and just like fun and safe environment for all the students goal, wise like our constant theme so far already has just been the community.
Speaker 3:We really want to just build the community up and make it not only a welcoming place but a constant place where students can be and interact with other students and find friends, like not just have a hi welcome to NSA and then fall off the face of the earth, but rather be able to say hi, welcome and then go into a friendship of some sort somehow or some way.
Speaker 1:I like that so much. So tell me more about some ways that you are really innovating and making it more welcoming this year. What can students expect?
Speaker 2:Well, we are trying to host a lot more different calls and we, instead of having every member in all the buildings, we've dedicated different members to each building and they're going to really be working on hosting different calls. They're just getting to know each student and befriend a lot of them and, yeah, that's mostly what we're trying to do just have more calls and more fun with everyone something I would add to that is we also are hoping, like we said, we have specific people in specific buildings.
Speaker 3:We we're also giving some students in those buildings their own dose of leadership. So another thing we're doing with the Welcome Committee is also not only welcoming other people, but also trying to build a community within the Welcome Committee and let some people learn their own leadership skills as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, love that. We're going to come back to leadership in a moment. But I want people that are not involved in North Star or maybe are, but don't really understand the similarities that we have to brick and mortar school. So we have school buildings just like a brick and mortar would have an elementary, a middle, a high school, right, and you're like what People are listening. How do you have a school building online? But tell us a little bit about what that looks like and how you move through, maybe the buildings each day, or maybe like how you're going to use the buildings to interact and build the community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in Microsoft Teams we have different buildings and each building has different channels, and something that I like to do every day is check out the Hi my Name Is channel and see all the new students or the returning students and just get to know them a little bit, reach out to them, sometimes in their private messages as well. I also like to check the courtyard, which is where we all just hang out, ask different questions and have fun, and I think also, as a welcome committee leader, something I'm going to try to do more of is look at more of the new students and connect with them in the courtyard as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, probably my funnest thing to do, especially the different buildings, is just go to the courtyard and hang out. Like you can just go in there and hang out with people for about half an hour at least. Um, just talking to people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's cool. Okay, I have an idea. Let's take 10 seconds and just throw out everything we can think of that North star has for community, like the different channels, different opportunities, different things Ready. Okay, get your minds ready with a few things, throw out anything, anything and everything. I can start, let's see if we can have no pauses for 10 seconds.
Speaker 3:I need to stop watching, so we can just talk over each other, which sometimes happens in meetings right At.
Speaker 1:Northstar, that's fine. This is true, yes, fine, okay, so we can just talk over each other, which sometimes happens in meetings right at Northstar. That's fine.
Speaker 3:This is true, yes.
Speaker 1:Fine, okay, here we go.
Speaker 2:Portyard Spiritual emphasis week C Calls that last for hours, even after the official thing is finished.
Speaker 1:Study hall Chapel Graduation Back to school bash.
Speaker 1:Summer celebrations, christmas parties and those Christmas-like music times that last for 24 hours, virtual worship nights, dances, yeah, okay, let's talk about leadership a little bit, because on student council and as a welcome committee leader, you learn about leadership right Because you're gathering volunteers and you're giving them energy and giving them things to do and motivating them, and sometimes leadership can be so fun, sometimes leadership can be so hard and challenging, so I want to talk about both. So, if you think about leadership, what pops in your mind that is lots of fun and why you choose to be in leadership at Northstar.
Speaker 2:One thing that I really enjoy about leadership is getting to do it with other people. So last year as the middle school rep, I did it with my best friend, and this year I'm doing it with another of my best friends as a welcome committee leader, and I really love working with people. I know that's one thing I really love about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that collaboration.
Speaker 3:I like the responsibility and the ability to do something new, something that hasn't been done before, or bring back something old that I think needs to come back. Leading is just something I've done for a while and I think it's a fun thing to do, so I guess you could call it a hobby in a way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. I love it. You are constantly learning and trying new things. All right, we know it's tough. We've had conversations all three of us about how tough it is. What's something?
Speaker 2:that's really hard and how are you working to understand or overcome it? I think something that's really hard is the vulnerability of it. Sometimes I remember last year I wasn't always treated very well and, yeah, just being so vulnerable and out there and standing for what is right, even if other people put you down about it, that is really tough, and what I've learned through that is to not take it so hard, um, and also just remember who I'm doing this for. I'm not doing this for, um, necessarily everybody else, but I'm also doing it for God.
Speaker 3:so, yeah, that's something that helps me through it probably my biggest challenge is, like I said, I've led a lot of things, but but it feels like the more I lead, the larger the responsibility it gets, and it's just like how there's no way I can actually do this. So for me it's really just a challenge of okay, I'm here, I'm doing it, but how am I doing it? Am I doing it correctly? It's just an internal struggle of like am I a good leader or am I doing it correctly? It's just an internal struggle of like am I a good leader or am I? Am I just doing terrible? That's, it's a self-criticism.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we struggle with that as leaders, I'm sure, but you have people around you. Hopefully you feel at Northstar that'll give you really good feedback, honest feedback and yeah, I think you're doing a great job both of you, because you're just all in and you're open to that feedback. And yeah, really fun to watch all grow. Love that about students at North Star because our students are just out there and pursuing so many different things and avenues and learning, so it's super fun to watch students grow all these years being here. What advice would you give to new students who might be nervous or unsure about starting at Northstar?
Speaker 3:I would say getting into the community, whether that be putting yourself out there in the courtyard or just messaging someone randomly Like I'm pretty sure I had today someone randomly message, messaged me and just be like hi. I was like hello. And then later on I was like how did you what? Where did this come from? And it's like, yeah, that's dude, go for it. It's. It's a great way to find friends, it's a great way to make a good friend or any friend really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like what he said just being out there, and don't be afraid to reach out to someone that you see around. I'm pretty sure the way Nathan and I knew each other was one of those awkward high messages. So you really do get blessed out of it. So don't be afraid to do it.
Speaker 1:That's good. I know, Nathan, you shared that you want it to be meaningful for students and not just a quick message and then never, you know, talk to someone again. So how are you going to ensure that the welcome committee makes sure that each student experiences a personal, meaningful introduction to North Star and just experience?
Speaker 3:A way that we did that was before we just had anyone volunteer. We specifically went looking for people that we knew were active. We knew they would be active on Teams and we know we can trust them to not just leave a person on read. We know we can trust them to actually engage in a conversation with them For some period of time. Not everyone can be on Teams for hours and hours and hours. Of course there are such things called time limits, but even so, we know that the people we chose to join Welcome Committee aren't just going to leave people hanging and that they can message them freely and get a response in return.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and keep asking questions or return yeah, and like keep asking questions or just going back to be like hey, how are you doing? And checking in on them, don't just like I've sent my message I'm done sort of thing.
Speaker 1:All right, Nathan. Community you tell me that community affects people, that that's something you've learned along your journey so far. Um, what do you mean by that? Can you tell us more?
Speaker 3:I'll give an example from my own life. So I remember when I first joined NSA, I had this shell metaphorical shell, not literal that I would I'm not really social, I wouldn't say I'm antisocial, I just don't really end up going up to someone and talking to them, um, but probably the best thing that nsa has done for me is crack that shell wide open. And it's not a doing of one individual person, really, it's just the doing of so many people. It again the community. After you actually start getting involved, even if you're, let's say, you're not social, okay, give it a chance. Ask someone something, get involved and you might not get your shell cracked, but you at least have a good time. And for me, the community really did just make me more open to talking with people, open to putting myself out there, open to leading even to that, like I want to give back to the community how the community gave to me. So really it's just like that's one personal story. There are a million others that you could probably find out there, but yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:I'm so thankful your shell was cracked wide open.
Speaker 3:Good analogy.
Speaker 1:So good, all right, tiana, you said that you are really passionate about sharing Jesus through student council, which you've been on for a while, but also film and performing arts, which you're passionate about. Tell us a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2:I grew up in a family and we're all sort of in that industry and that is something that my dad does and something that I think I'll go into. That my dad does and something that I think I'll go into and how I love to just share Jesus through film is. It's not necessarily a Christian film, but it's sort of like, sort of like how CS Lewis did it. You have some aspects of Christianity in it and when someone is watching that movie or that performance, that musical, they're just like there really is a God somewhere that does love me and it's just like a realization of that. So, yeah, that's like how I would do it. And yeah, I think, coming from a family where my parents weren't Christian their whole lives, and hearing their story and having family members that aren't saved, it's just really my heart cry to be like I want you to know Jesus and, yeah, be in heaven with me. Yeah, so something that I've always just wanted to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have a cool, cool family, Lots of things you're getting to experience, moving all around both of y'all, so I love that. Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming initiatives or events the Welcome Committee is planning or other events you know student council is planning where students can really get involved?
Speaker 2:We have revamped newbies mixers. We have revamped newbies mixers. So if you are in high school or middle school, look out for calls that are called disco hangouts and we will be having some fun on the virtual disco floor. We may be jamming to music, playing games and just hanging out getting to know each other. And if you're in elementary school, we're going to be having some wild hangouts where we will also be playing some games. So, yeah, those are two things you can look forward to.
Speaker 3:Going back to the high school disco hangouts, there may or may not be some sort of lore connection at some point with a couple different things from NSA, and if you're not aware of NSA's lore, definitely look for the wiki. Somehow in NSA that's a great way to get involved in the chaos as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, we mentioned some events and just check your messages. Make sure you're looking at the landing page when you log in and checking teams. There's always conversations to get into or announcements. Don't forget about the NSA Connects if you're a high school student, because you can meet a lot of students there and a lot of really cool people. I've got a director's corner coming up. I do those a couple of times so you can just ask me any questions you want Interview me, all right, so you've met two students If you're new to North Star, you're thinking about it Nathan Rexroth and Tiana Dean, so you can look them up, message them, be brave and do that and get to know them more, ask them a question that you didn't get answered here and just how you can get involved. So lots of students. If someone reaches out to you, make sure you reach back and build that relationship. Thanks again, tiana and Nathan, for just leading out this year in the welcome committee, coming on here and sharing. I'm super, super thankful for both of you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been really fun.
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 nsaschool, 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.