I never knew I was going to join NorthStar Academy. In fact, I never knew online school was an option. I never knew that this event in life would lead me to one of the sweetest communities I have ever seen. In the grand year of 2020, when all earth shut down, I was presented with the opportunity of learning this new format. Four years later, I remain in NorthStar Academy and do not plan on leaving anytime soon. However, the question remains: why is this such a good school?
Read MoreOver the summer, the Navigator dealt with some copyright issues over an image. The Navigator took special precautions to make sure this never happened again. Jared L. and I were given responsibility for this job, but what does that mean?
Read MoreGrowing up is hard. With youth comes unconditional nurture, but no knowledge. With adolescence comes knowledge, but a sudden distaste for the safety we once craved. Exhilarated by the vast expanse of opportunity that lies before us, we oftentimes rush off without looking back. We get so enthralled in the excitement of the future, we can forget to thank the people who helped us along the way.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, the idea of homeschooling or online school was foreign to me. I attended a public elementary school. Every day I would wake up and go to school from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon. I did this from kindergarten to well into my first year of middle school. However, along with the rest of the world, my life changed in 2020.
Read MoreIf you had told me two years ago I would be attending an online school, of my own accord, I would have laughed in your face. However, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the absolute blessing that NorthStar Academy has been in my life. Albeit unexpected, I am able to look back and say that this was truly one of the best decisions I could have made for myself.
Read More“Yes!” I screamed, leaping away from the computer to hug my parents. It was April 2023, and I had received a Teams message informing me of my first-place win in the Creative Writing Club’s fiction contest. My dark fantasy short story, “The Quiz,” was to be published in the NorthStar Navigator, the school’s online newspaper.
Read MoreMrs. Meyer, the teacher advisor for The Navigator, is the guiding force behind NorthStar’s student newspaper. While she works behind the scenes, she is instrumental in coordinating, directing, uplifting, and leading the staff. So, The Navigator staff would like to take a moment to thank her for everything she has done this year.
Read MoreHello everyone. My name is Alexander. My family chose to enroll me in NorthStar Academy for three reasons. The first reason why I joined NSA was that my parents wanted me to go to an accredited high school, which helps with getting into college. The second reason I joined NSA was that my mom and dad wanted me to go to a Christian school like NSA. The last reason I joined NSA was that my parents liked the curriculum that NSA uses.
Read MoreFor me, NorthStar has been an essential part of my schooling experience. I live overseas and travel a lot. Sometimes I need to be flexible when I do school. NorthStar enables me to work anywhere at any time in basically any place I need. As a result, I can be very efficient in how I do my work, while also being flexible so that I can prioritize other things in my life that are important.
Read MoreYears ago, I never would have thought I would ever find myself joining a school newspaper. Yet, that is exactly what I decided to do when I joined the Navigator. I have learned much more in my time with the Navigator than I ever imagined I would, and I am so grateful for that.
Read MoreHere at the Navigator, we work to create enjoyable publications full of a wide variety of articles, from the informative to the humorous. But, we are still students, so we have other classes we must work on as well. Let us get a glimpse of the school lives of the Navigator staff by investigating their favorite high school courses, which are as diverse as toppings on a pizza.
Read MoreI know what you did on December 31, well, not exactly, but a rough idea. You probably toasted a chilled glass of something sparkling, and resolved to some sort of ritual that would lead to a better you in 2024. Well, you aren’t alone. Millions of people around the world participate in this tradition, either scribbling resolutions down on a crumpled napkin, or in an embellished notebook they purchased for the occasion. Well, the Navigator staff also participated in this ritual, and shared some of the resolutions they made for 2024.
Read MoreFrom 2018-2020, the editor-in-chief at the Navigator was Savannah L. Not only was Savannah the editor-in-chief, but also one of the founders of the Navigator class at NorthStar. Since graduating, Savannah now attends Mount St. Mary’s college in Maryland. It has been four years since Savannah left NorthStar, and now is as good a time as any to catch up.
Read MoreChristmas is nearly upon us. This year, let us take a look at what the members of the Navigator team are planning to do to celebrate the holiday!
Read MoreThe Navigator ended in June, and all the writers went their separate ways. Sometimes it's easy to forget that people we know from NSA have lives outside of school. In this article, let’s check on what the Nav writers were doing this offseason.
Read MoreThis is my third year on the Navigator. As such, I have already written two articles about my experience at NorthStar and on the Navigator. For my 9th grade year, my first year on the Nav, I wrote about how NorthStar gives me the flexibility I need in my life, while still providing a rigid-enough structure to compensate for my busy brain. In my second story article, I wrote about how NorthStar has given me the community that I had always wanted. Since I’ve already talked about NSA’s social, spiritual, and academic aspects, I want to make sure that this article covers something different.
Read MoreOnce upon a blustery November morning seven years ago, a barely 11-year-old sixth grader walked into the math classroom at her local Christian school. She had been attending this school since kindergarten and had never known anything different as far as school goes. School, at the time, meant navigating a (comparatively) small, combined middle and high school campus on the middle school side of the building, worrying about being late to class, trying to make straight A’s to avoid parents’ displeasure, and juggling changing friendships. One word can connotate a lot, right?
Read MoreI have existed on this planet for fifteen years now. And though it’s been a year since I wrote my first staff story, I must admit I still don’t like doing it. What is there to say now? I don’t know, and that’s why I’m writing this extremely close to the due date.
Read MoreMy NSA story has not been a fairytale, far from it to be honest, but I have enjoyed my time at NorthStar. This is my third year at NSA, but only my second year taking classes only from NorthStar. The three-year journey until now has been full of hardships, but there are many fun memories. My tenth grade year in particular has been full of changes, yet there has been a constant, the Navigator.
Read MoreYou can describe me with the 4 F’s and two P’s. Faith, Family, Flag, Freedom, Protection, and Procrastination. I know, it's an underwhelming end to such a virtuous list. You may know me as the funny guy in that obscure school newspaper. You may be saying “that man is cringe” or something similar. You might even know me as the guy who was active on Teams a year ago then disappeared forever. In the case of the latter, I don’t know why you still remember me, my greatest contribution to NSA was participating in a meme war. But whether I’m remembered as King Cringe or the Chick-fil-A guy, I am leaving…for good, I’m never coming back.
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