One Student, Two Perspectives
By Lydia N.
Northstar Academy houses many students of all different grade levels. Some students have been with NSA since they were in elementary school, and others have only experienced the high school or middle school version of Northstar. Today I’m going to be telling you the story of an NSAer who is experiencing both middle school at NSA and high school… at the same time!
Elizabeth, a baton twirling, tap dancing, basketball-playing, book and baking lover, has been going to NSA since August. Elizabeth is in both 8th and 9th grade at NSA. She says that she takes Language Arts 8 as an 8th-grade class, and Algebra 1 EVP, Physical Science EVP, Physical Education, and Introduction to Coding as 9th-grade classes.
Elizabeth says that if she went to a brick-and-mortar school, she would most likely be in 8th grade because she is thirteen. However, she has been homeschooled her whole life before NSA, so she can’t say for sure!
Life on Teams is always iNSAne for an NSAer, but Elizabeth’s life on Teams is very different than the average NSA student. “On Teams, I am automatically put at the eighth-grade level, so I am unable to attend high school grade calls or events. Because of this, I’m very grateful for the private messaging teachers on teams, which allow me to connect with anybody in the school, regardless of their grade!”
She also says that, “I don’t really feel like I belong to either grade, because I’m sort of in a “half-and-half” grade if that makes sense. While I have to go to grade calls and other meetings with middle schoolers (8th graders), I have my live class meetings with high schoolers (9th graders).” However, even though she doesn’t necessarily feel like she belongs wholly to one grade, she says that, “I have personally gotten to know and become friends with so many 8th graders and 9th graders since I’m in the same classes as them! It has been so much fun to be part of both 8th-grade level and 9th-grade level classes because of this.”
And of course, the one question many want to know, are you in both the high school and middle school chat? “Nope! I’m only able to access the Middle school Teams chat, but it would be super awesome/funny if I was in both of those chats xD.”
Now that we know what the 8th/9th-grade perspective looks like from the perception of a student at NSA, why not look at it from the perspective of a teacher? Head on over to my other article, “Teaching In-Between Two Worlds” and check out Mrs. Anderson’s perspective of teaching both middle school and high school classes!
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Lydia N. is in 9th grade this year and this is her first year at NSA! She loves to sing, act in local and professional theatre productions, and read when she isn't doing schoolwork. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her mom and step-dad. She has no siblings, but she does have a dog named Pippin (after Peregrin Took from the Lord of the Rings book series).