2021 - 2022

Let us take a moment to consider how literature has affected our society. It has allowed us to learn and speak out about what we believe to be important. It often reflects events of the time period that it was written in which gives readers a closer look into history through a form other than history books. Literature provides us with the opportunity to read the opinions and perspectives of diverse people through different times and a closer look at the reality of our world during different periods.

Well, I guess I made it. We are coming very close to the end of the school year, and to the end of a very significant stage of my life. With the chaos of life and schoolwork, I’m not sure if I’ve actually taken a moment to really take a breath and consider that fact. High school has been a wild ride. Was it at all like High School Musical? No, but that’s probably for the best.

As a teacher, I should be excited as we come to the beginning of June–cheering for the seniors who have completed their high school journey. But this year, that celebration is mixed with a bit of reserve.

I’m not gonna lie. It took me a while to get started on this article. Usually, when it’s time to start working on our new publication, I excitedly start looking for people to interview or documents to read. But for this article, I had no one to interview, nor any reason to lurk around Teams for Word docs. I had to write about myself.

My journey, or might I say, voyage, has been a highlight of my time at NSA. The NSS Navigator has been a good ship, seaworthy, and hasn’t let me down. It can support its weight, it leaks at times, cracks form, but if you keep a cool head, it's nothing you can’t overcome. Thankfully, my fellow crewmates are the best in the business. We set out from Port North with a goal, to deliver news to the four corners of NorthStar, and I think we’ve done that. However, the voyage is nearly at its end.

All year long, students get to read the fabulous articles that the Navigator Staff writes every publication. However, rarely do you get to see the real people behind the black-colored pixel letters on your screen. This has been especially true for me. As the Editor-in-Chief for the Navigator, my main job is to publish the articles and update the website. As a result, you don’t get to see me pop up here very often. However, for this article, I want to explain how much NorthStar means to me.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been going on since 24 February 2022. This invasion has been racking up a death toll of more than 6,000 civilians (“Ukraine: Civilian Casualty”). Yet, what many fail to realize is that the Russo-Ukrainian War has existed since 2014, and tensions between Ukraine and Russia have been present since Obama’s first term as president. This war has been a long time coming and leaders across the world have failed to take action.

High school has been the best years of my life. Don’t get me wrong, it’s also been the most stressful years of my life, but the best years, nonetheless. As my high school journey comes to a close and I get ready to finish the last chapter of my NSA story, which I’ve creatively titled Senior Year, I’ve felt so thankful. Has NSA made me want to scream and cry and rip my hair out from time to time? Yes. Have I cried consistently during every math class I’ve taken here? Also, yes. But I wouldn’t be who I am today if it had not been for NSA.

NorthStar Academy, a unique organization that spans the globe, is based in the United States but offers schooling worldwide. With this comes some challenges that in-person schools don’t have. However, things such as the abundance of different cultures and languages present at NSA can also serve as incredible opportunities for connection and interaction.

Born and raised in South Africa and homeschooling since the age of five, I’ve had an interesting journey to arriving at the virtual school gates of NorthStar Academy. As mentioned, I’ve been homeschooled since the age of five, which means that my mother has not only taught me how to write and read, but to really fall in love with learning and escape to the magical world of books.

Let us take a moment to consider how literature has affected our society. It has allowed us to learn and speak out about what we believe to be important. It often reflects events of the time period that it was written in which gives readers a closer look into history through a form other than history books. Literature provides us with the opportunity to read the opinions and perspectives of diverse people through different times and a closer look at the reality of our world during different periods.

Are you a Microsoft Windows person? Or are you a Mac fan? This is a debate that never seems to end. Each side has a following of die-hard fans who insist that their OS (Operating System) has the better performance. Apple, the company that produces the Mac dynasty, is a widely popular OS, but keep in mind, about 90% of the world's computers run some version of Microsoft Windows.

Mrs. Velasquez, or Mrs. V as most call her, is a curriculum writer for NorthStar and the Student Council advisor for this year. That means she’s not only a leader for the school, but she’s in charge of leading the student leaders! And, if teaching young, tender, and sometimes timid students how to rise up and become leaders isn’t hard enough, she has to do it completely online, across many countries around the globe.

This year, I turned 50. That might seem ancient to some of you, but it was actually pretty exciting for me! Let me explain why…

Would you believe me if I told you that NorthStar has a secret code name? Well, believe me or not, it’s true! NorthStar has in fact been cleverly disguised in the 2021 book Of Mages, Kings, and Polaris Academy. The book was written by a high school student and former writer on the Navigator: Tirzah!

Dear Fish,

I’ve never been a very sentimental person, but as I near the end of my senior year, I’m finding it harder and harder not to reminisce and look back over the last four years. Everyone tells you, ‘Time flies, so don’t wish it away,’ but you never realize how fast it all happens until it’s in the rear view.

Why do we get an education? You may suggest without further thought that the sole purpose of an education is to go to college, get a job, and succeed in life by whatever terms you set for yourself. While all these things are true, what if I told you that you had missed the point entirely? What if the reason we get an education is for the purpose of crafting our skill in articulation?

This one is for the seniors. We are getting ready to transition to a whole new season of life, an exciting and new one. You know, after we graduate from high school and everything. I definitely haven’t forgotten about that point, but I have also noticed a sort of decline in my motivation and care. Okay fine, not a sort of decline, a definite decline. I have decided to go ahead and give myself a degree and diagnose myself with a little thing called senioritis.

There are many moving parts that work together to make a machine work. Each part has a different job. And just like a machine, we are not all reporters. There are three positions that are unlike any other: Teacher-Advisor, Editor, and Editor-in-Chief.

I’m sure that most of you are plenty aware of the existence of this not-so-little part of NorthStar: clubs! Many of you have participated in live club calls and submitted entries for activities and (hopefully) had a lot of fun with these things! But it takes a lot of work to keep NorthStar’s unique clubs running smoothly and fun for everyone, and so it would stand to reason that a unique leadership style is required. Let’s take a closer look at the different kinds of leaders it takes to make clubs click!

From King David to Lincoln to Queen Elizabeth II, leadership has been a key part of history. Leadership is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization or “the capacity to lead” (Merriam-Webster.com, 2022). Leaders have made themselves known through commanding armies to have authority and protecting their families and friends.

Leadership is comprised of a variety of different qualities that make a good leader, the tools that leaders use, and the roles leaders fulfill. All of these aspects work together to make up leadership. You can’t have leadership without the qualities of a leader nor can you be a leader without the essential tools needed to command.

As I was working on piecing this article together, it kept getting bigger and bigger. The longer I read over Kate, Caleb, Regan, Sarah Grace, and Rhianna’s words, the more I realized that I wanted to be able to share all of it. Everything they have said are things that I needed to be told four years ago, and I couldn’t bring myself to cut half of it out. So, without further ado, here is part 2 of the article:

When was the last time you were disappointed? Felt defeated or even hopeless? In Psalm 13—David expressed it well. He did not understand many of the situations God called him to, yet he wasn’t afraid to express it to his God or to question God.

When it comes to matters of the heart, anything and everything can easily become difficult. Within a moment, you could either feel like fainting or running into someone’s arms… that is if you’re an 18th century romantic. Nonetheless, with whatever love-struck dilemma you may have encountered, there is always advice to be had. Below is some advice for people who submitted the situations where Cupid’s bow and arrow may wrought some havoc in their lives.

What is a recreational activity? It's basically a hobby, something you enjoy doing to get your mind off other things. For some it's dirt biking, other it's spying on people. Some people enjoy sports, others make potatoing a hobby. This is a new year, 2022, to be exact, and if you’re looking for things to do, there is always something. In my eyes, there is no excuse to be bored all the time.

The best stories come from a need. When you back that need with passion, diligence, and personal experience, you just might find something worth sharing. We all could find a story about our personal experience that we could talk about, but not many have the diligence to write, illustrate, and publish such a story into a book. Regan had such a story to share. Using her talents in writing and drawing to publish a children’s book about China—a place she calls home—Regan used her unique experiences to shed new light on a misunderstood country.

Art. It is interpretation, passion, and creativity uniquely expressed by different individuals. A multitude of art forms exist going back thousands of years, and painting is one of them.

Students at NSA have fantastic options when it comes to picking courses to take, and this year, a brand-new course has been introduced: Capstone Cooperative Design!

We all know that feeling—the feeling of one semester finally wrapped up only to be met by another semester—and a fresh 18 weeks of work staring back at us from behind our screens. The novelty of our new classes has waned away, and the excitement of a new school year is all but depleted. We are left with what most of us would call a “new semester slump.” The holidays are gone, and spring break is still so far. If this sounds like something that is running through your mind, fear not, for we are about to find a silver lining in our new set of clouds.

There are various clubs at NorthStar Academy. There’s the drama club, the creative writing club, the cooking club, and many others. One of these is a relatively new club called the gaming club. The gaming club started in late 2021, but it is already quite large with almost 85 members in it! The student leaders are two high school boys named Spencer and Gabriel and the teacher overseer is Mrs. Clark.

Singapore is a remarkable city. It's not a country, as it has no territory outside of borders, but it's considered a city-state. A city-state is a sovereign city that acts like a nation, but nothing else. Singapore's main strength lies in its economy, an economy that makes China and the U.S. blush. In this article we will discuss their economy, their influence on the world stage, what everyday life looks like, and a little bit about their innovations in technology.

Disclaimer: More mature topics and subjects are covered in this article that might not be suitable for younger audiences.

Over the last 20 years, we, as a society, have entered the age of the internet and the use of social media. Today, social media plays almost a daily role in every person’s life. But the question is, in what ways, positive or negative, has or does social media affect us? Furthermore, what do the internet and social media look like when biblical principles are applied?

The staff of the NorthStar Navigator write articles on other students, teachers, events, and clubs around NSA all year long. Naturally, as readers, none of you get to really know them through what they write. To help solve that problem, I’m here to divulge the New Year’s resolutions of the Navigator staff.

There have been various articles written by the Navigator staff about middle school and high school kids who attend NorthStar Academy. However, there seemed to be a lack of information about the elementary students at NSA. There may be fewer elementary students active on Microsoft Teams than students in other grades, I do believe that these fourth, fifth, and sixth graders need a bit of representation in the Navigator too. So, without further ado, let us take a little peek into the lives of Elijah, Sarah, Haesol, and Allen!

Reading is one of those things that some ardently love, or fervently hate. Some consider reading a hobby, while others prefer making videos to upload onto YouTube. While none of these opinions are wrong, we should never take for granted nor forsake reading a book the good-old-fashioned way. On the subject of books, you may or may not be aware of the recent reading contest NSA held. Hosted by your Student Council―which is the body of students that strive to make NSA a fun and inviting place―the Reading Contest was designed to make reading enticing and rewarding. The Stuco Special Projects Coordinator, Elena, said, “I enjoyed seeing how excited people were for the contest and how thrilled they were about the forfeits.” Most of you probably know about it by now, so I won’t bore you with the details. Raw information is easy to come by, but the opinions of those who won, or who lost, are a bit harder to find. Just because it's a bit more work than just brushing up on a Teams channel.

The impact that teachers can have on their students' lives is sometimes overlooked. Our teachers are the people who support us in our growth and learning, and a teacher that cares is memorable. Of course, here at NSA, we are lucky to have remarkable teachers like Mrs. Arnaud. In addition to working at NSA, Mrs. Arnaud works for the Florida Department of Corrections as a special education teacher at a prison.

Christmas has been celebrated since 336 AD. For most, it’s a holiday that brings people and families together, it allows people to serve and give to each other, and it gives us an opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Elements and different celebrations of Christmas and Jesus’ birth can be seen across the world during the holidays, but how do different countries and cultures celebrate Christmas?

What would it be like as president of StuCo? How would one run a body of students like StuCo? What does one do as president? As every question has an answer, these have a multitude of answers. As of the 2021-22 school year, we here at NSA have a great StuCo leader, or, is it Stucco? StuCo is short for Student Council, which is the body of students here at NSA who not only put out a newsletter monthly, lead youth groups, and such, but also create, plan, and host many of the events you see around NSA. But back to the question, and as every good question has an answer, Caleb, the president of StuCo, said: “Well… Stucco is wall texturing, isn’t it? So I’m gonna have to go with StuCo on this one.” StuCo it is then.

Christmas is my favorite time of year! Everyday seems to become more exciting in the midst of the holiday season. This year, a particular part of the nativity story interested me: the gifts that were given to Jesus, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It’s fascinating to think about the significance these items would have had in the past since they each have so much significance in Middle Eastern culture today. So, as we think about what gifts we might give and receive this year, let’s take a closer look at the gifts Jesus was given as well.

NSA has a numerous number of events always going on. You’ve probably seen them being advertised at a passing glance as you login to Buzz every morning. A large amount of the student body participates in such events. But if you find yourself sitting around looking for a reason to check them out, then you are in the right place. As an appropriate disclaimer, I am not one to attend many of NSA’s events. In reality, I’m probably just like most of you: too preoccupied with keeping up with my own schedule to find time for these events. You are not alone in that. However, there is much more below the surface of those notifications for upcoming events that we glance over. If, like me, you find yourself not even giving a thought to attending, here is just what we are missing out on.

With the Spiritual Emphasis Event in the rear-view mirror, we may feel the urge to look out to the horizon and forget what we experienced at SEE as well as the spiritual atmosphere that surrounds us here at NSA. What we neglect to realize is that this atmosphere is not encompassed by a few events during the year; rather, its presence is prevalent throughout all aspects of the school. SEE was an amazing experience for those who participated, but we cannot forget the multitude of other mediums through which our spiritual lives are filled at NSA. Moving forward after SEE, we need to ask ourselves how we could better pursue a closer walk with Christ in the atmosphere that we are a part of.

How do you start the conversation on Identity?

You start it by listening, supporting, and being there for the other person. The topic of identity is a large and complex one. It has many different factors that impact it and because of that, it needs to be approached stage by stage and step by step. Nonetheless, it is a topic and conversation that needs to be talked about. A recently sent-out school survey showed that six out of nine NorthStar Academy high school students struggle with their identity and knowing who they are. More and more people are suffering from identity crises.

December is already upon us and Christmas is quickly approaching! This is such a special time of year. It is a time of great joy and celebration of the birth of Christ our Savior as well as a time to show love to those around us. One of our favorite Christmas traditions here at NorthStar is our Christmas fundraiser. At the end of every year, we come together to worship through giving. NSA students host a fundraiser that highlights different cultures or organizations. This year, we are changing the name to The Blessing Project. Our focus is Afghanistan and we have three unique opportunities to bless and be blessed.

Everyone has a story, and Mrs. Kathrine Clark’s is quite unique. Though she is now a middle school and high school history teacher, she was once a student at NorthStar Academy! As a child, Mrs. Clark lived as a missionary kid with her parents in Chad, Africa. She went to NorthStar Academy for her junior and senior year and graduated in 2013. When she attended, the school was quite different than it was today. Students downloaded their lessons in PDF format and worked offline. When they were done, they emailed their work to their teacher and the teacher graded it. However in the later part of Mrs. Clark’s time at NSA, lessons were switched over to an LMS system called Brainhoney, a precursor to Buzz.

Those plugged into the community on Teams can affirm that group chats are an essential part to what keeps NSA going. There are so many great groups to join, that it would be hard not to find a band of people with similar interests as yours! However one in particular is very unique, a group called “The iNSAne Equestrians”!

What is it that makes the Christian environment so magnetic and attractive? In my years at NorthStar Academy, I have found that the answer to this lies in the heart of the school itself: its teachers and management. The encouragement from the teachers and their daily efforts to intertwine Christianity into their lessons truly reflects the love of Christ. This is a reflection that I had not taken the time to think about before I had the opportunity to interview one of NSA’s newest teachers, Mr. Ayub. Mr. Ayub’s story and how he came to be a part of the NSA staff reflects his deep appreciation and sentiment for the unique love of Christ present in this school.

Known to most as “Stuco,” the Student Council is responsible for most of the meetings and events you see around Teams and NSA in general. Outside of NSA Connects, which are run by teachers and admin staff, you may have seen other events related to the start of a new school year. These events, for example, the Back to School Bash, are purely student-organized and run. Stuco’s setup is simple; students here on NSA take on various roles and responsibilities, and among the ranks, each member has a specific job while also helping out whenever it is needed. Dorshea, the Stuco Vice President said, “We're all like a big family and we all have our specific roles and jobs to do. “ The Stuco has most areas of NSA life covered, from special projects to ads and working with the admin staff.

On 15 August, the Taliban took over Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. With Afghanistan’s takeover, twenty years of fighting for and developing human rights is disrupted and undone. Afghanistan’s fall hit the world hard, but some students and teachers at NSA, with a personal tie to the country, have probably felt the most impact.

I am excited about all that this year has in store for us here at NorthStar Academy. This will once again be an incredible year full of excitement and community, for which God has created us. It is your faculty and staff’s desire to be known by you and for you in turn to know God and each other.

Whether or not you are a new or returning student, the start of a new school year always brings mixed emotions. It might be nerve-racking, exciting, or challenging! Even though I became a student at NorthStar Academy three years ago, each year brings new obstacles and circumstances to adapt to along with things to look forward to. I would say that a student at NorthStar, Ruthie, summed it up well. “School years is [sic] like a great adventure and you have to defeat monsters, giants, etc to reach the destination which is summertime.”

The Drama Club is a very well known part of NorthStar. It’s a fun, low stress way to learn a bit about theater, and is a great place to make friends! But, in February of 2021, a new branch of it was launched called the Aspiring Filmmakers Team. The AFM is a section of the club for those who enjoy making and learning about movies. It was created by a high school student named Sophia, who is now one of the managers. “I love all aspects of filmmaking,” she said, “and being able to facilitate and lead a team that I get to share that love with others is a true blessing.” The AFM is a place created for all ages and levels of expertise, whether you’re a professional producer or just a beginner, there’s a place for you!