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“Learning is natural.” In the past few months, I have met with dozens of people inquiring about North Star at our Open Houses, at private family meetings, and through email or phone calls. One of the most common questions I am asked is, “How does it work? How do kids learn at North Star?” Parents and teens can be confused at North Star’s lack of requirements in contrast to school, and I think that what they are really asking is, “Why do teens learn?” We constantly encounter the misguided assumption that teens might never choose to learn anything without the pressure of grades, deadlines, and the fear of failure looming over them. North Star begins with the premise “Learning is natural,” which we feature on our bumper sticker. We believe that learning is a profoundly satisfying experience, one that people seek out over and over. We see teens mastering musical instruments, athletic feats, artistic skills, and academic material. Teens feel a powerful sense of

accomplishment and internal satisfaction when they achieve a goal, and this private celebration of feeling one has learned something naturally induces one to seek out a new challenge. This spiral sometimes leads beyond intrinsic rewards and produces noticeable excellence. This issue features Eli Catlin, who mastered playing and singing the blues at an early age. His accomplishments include representing Massachusetts at the National Blues Challenge in Memphis last year. Having excelled at something he loves with a genuine talent most of us cannot duplicate, Eli felt ready for something more. In the past year, he recognized his passion for photography, and with some support from North Star, he has focused his energy in this area. At North Star, our teens currently request and engage in over 80 independent studies with a staff member each week. I find this phenomenally impressive! These meetings are not required, they are not graded, and they are not rewarded.

Teens simply want them! Further, these private tutorials are the tip of the iceberg of the learning that is happening among our members. Our teens are learning in our classes, in their personal studies, at community organizations, in college classes, and really, everywhere! When teens arrive at North Star fresh out of school, many associate learning with the feeling of relief that they experience after completing an assignment. The concept of learning for the sake of internal satisfaction seems foreign or naïve, as indicated by their doubtful or even blank expressions when I explain the process. I plow ahead for those open to hearing more. The basic answer to the question, “How does North Star work?” involves offering teens opportunities, allowing them to select those that interest them, and striving to provide for that first magical moment of genuine accomplishment. Teens know when it has happened, and once they have experienced it, there is no going back.

Learning is naturalBy Ken Danford, Executive Director

McKenzie has a one-on-one tutoring session with Shira because she wants to.

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photo by Michelle Alcott

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Every week I have several meetings with local adults and college students interested in offering their time and skills to North Star teens.  As a result I spend a lot of time explaining the subtleties of our unique learning environment.  One nuance that is important to understand is that while our

teens are free to come and go and to create their own schedules, they cannot do "whatever they want,"  at least not in our building. 

The North Star community is based on respect.  Our one vague and encompassing rule is that no one can behave in a way that makes others not want to be there.  We don't care about hats or hair color or personal expression, as long as it's not being forced on anyone else in a way that is uncomfortable to them.  Our common room is a bustling, social space, often visited by potential members, grandmothers, and small children.  It must be maintained as a space that feels welcoming to anyone and everyone, which means rules of common public decency apply, including not swearing or being overly noisy or unkempt. 

Respect for others' personal space and activities applies throughout the building.  Students may not interrupt each other's classes or be destructive -- and other common sense expectations. North Star is a community of equals where no one activity or person or group is more important than another and mutual respect is the rule.  It seems basic, and it is, and yet this situation is rare for an adolescent learning environment. 

Another core aspect of North Star that must be understood by incoming staff is the nature of hierarchy in our environment. Adults at North Star do not have authority over students in the way that is common in other educational settings.  We offer no degrees or evaluations and therefore have nothing to hold over our students.  We do not seek compliance.  We are a community of the willing which is rooted in mutual respect.  

While the adults at North Star are not there to enforce external agendas, neither are we peers.  Adults at North Star are teachers and mentors and supporters and helpers and keepers of the community.  We intervene, create dialogue, and change behaviors when necessary.  We ensure a safe place for everyone.  We hold responsibility for the well being of our members inside our building, and our authority ends there.  We have experience and knowledge and information that is generally seen as useful and is there

for the taking.  Among teen members there is no structural hierarchy.  There are no grades like sophomore, freshman, and so on, and no grades like A,B,C,D.  No individual is considered to be superior or more important than another.  This is one of the many ways in which we uphold one of our seven Guiding Principles: Structure Communicates More Powerfully than Words. 

I find this especially relevant amidst our nation's current educational concerns regarding bullying.  I am pleased to hear about so many initiatives to end bullying in schools, and I am hopeful that many situations may be improved.  I know that teachers and administrators want nothing more than to maintain safe learning environments. However, I am doubtful of the overall effectiveness of anti-bullying initiatives within the context of today's schools.  Bullying is a complex problem with many factors, all of which I won't attempt to address here.  I am attempting to make a point about structure influencing behavior.  In my opinion, bullying is essentially about power.  A group or individual

exerts dominance over someone else, perhaps because they ultimately feel powerless and are attempting to claim power or because they are enacting their understanding of powerful behavior.  These power dynamics are inherent in hierarchical systems, especially when individuals are under confinement.  School environments are organized around power and hierarchy.  Separating and valuing students based on age and ability creates power differentials.

Teachers and school officials have the power to judge, and these judgments have great impact on the lives of the students. 

In my opinion, bullying is a manifestation, a playing out, of power dynamics that are inherent in compulsory educational systems.  It may be helpful to try to teach students not to bully or to accept bullying, but when the entire environment sends a different message, I believe that that structure communicates more powerfully than words, and that these initiatives cannot be as effective as we would all like them to be. 

Schools certainly have their hands full managing so many variables and trying to do right by so many students.  I recognize much success and applaud the considerable effort.  I am not condemning the people who run schools.  I believe, however, that certain problems, like bullying, are endemic to the system as it stands, and that our youth will continue to suffer bullying until we recreate an educational system that is voluntary, inclusive, and based in equality and respect.  It doesn't work to tell youth to do as I say and not as I do.  While the school-system-powers-that-be work on that problem, I am happy that we can offer an environment that is consistent in its messaging.

Keeping it realBy Catherine Gobron, Program Director

It doesn't work to tell youth to do as I say

and not as I do.

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This is my first year teaching at North Star and I have been working one on one with the students for Spanish tutorials. (I love it!) The experience has been both challenging and infinitely rewarding.  It has been amazing to see students grow into themselves and an honor to be part of the process that helps nourish their knowledge and self-confidence.  It has further become a tremendous reinforcement in my pursuit of a career as an educator and mentor.

I have always believed that education is an imperative component in the development of individuals. At North Star, teachers and students are looked at as equals; there is no hierarchy, only mutual respect. Classrooms should be based on this model of respect to create a safe, open environment to ask questions, for exploration and experimentation- it’s how we learn! I fully support North Star’s mission.

TEACHER PROFILERachel Adams

Photo by Ben Rosser

Last year’s workshop was so successful we’ve decided to do another one! Save the date for July 13-15!

SUMMER REPLICATION WORKSHOP

Do you want more North Star news, more regularly? Like us on Facebook! We post our weekly blog, interesting articles about education, funny videos our members make, and much more. You can also reconnect with alumni and teachers there! facebook.com/NorthStarTeens

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More time for musicBy Eli Catlin, current member

This isAdriana!

I am deeply appreciative of Eli’s willingness to share his story. He is both a private and a modest fellow. He accepts praise and acknowledgment with a brief smile and nod. He goes about his business quietly, leaving the publicity side of things to his parents, teachers, and friends. His essay conveys this aspect of his personality, as he chooses to write about some profound accomplishments without much celebration or fanfare. Those of you who know Eli will appreciate his presentation; those who have not met him might have to consider his achievements and wonder just how much work and commitment they must represent.

Eli has some definite ideas (and limits) about how he wants to use North Star, so I am grateful that he accepted this invitation to describe his journey through school and homeschooling, and how he perceives North Star to contribute to this process. Our staff and community appreciate Eli’s choice to include us in his life. - Ken Danford

I wasn’t going back to school. I knew that. My mom had been looking for alternatives for me for a couple of years. I liked the people at school but the work was difficult and not worth the effort. I wasn’t right for the system. We tried homeschooling and then another school, but halfway through seventh grade at that school I just decided it was wrong. I hated it and one of the main reasons was that they were teaching things that I thought were useless to me. Having to sit through it felt like a waste and doing the work was even worse. I tried – I wanted to do good and all. But trying so hard on stuff that I didn’t want to do was awful. I learned the basic stuff I needed from school and I was done. I knew what I wanted to do with my life: Music.

I’m a blues musician. When I was nine I started taking guitar lessons. I made up a song with a few chords and

my guitar teacher thought it was kind of bluesy. He made me a CD with old blues music on it and when I heard Robert Johnson I knew that music would be a big part of my life.

Six months after my decision to stop attending school, my family and I moved to Northampton. In fall of 2010 I began at North Star. I wasn’t going to go to any school. I wanted a place where I could come in a few days a week, be with other people, and get some things done. I’ve been happy to avoid all of the subjects that I was done with and focus on things that I felt were more important.

Being at North Star has let me have more time for my music. Sometimes I spend all day playing, working out songs, just playing. I get to play my music for other people a lot, whether it’s at the farmers market or The Iron Horse, a local music venue. This year I played twice at The Iron Horse, once opening for Joe Louis Walker and again a few months later for Roomful of Blues. Last year I got to go to Memphis as part of the youth showcase in the International Blues Challenge.

When I first came to North Star, in addition to playing a lot of music I also went to some classes, met with Ken once in a while, and started meeting with Mau, the photo/video teacher, once a week to work on projects. Midway through the year I started meeting with Catherine three times a week to help me organize my time, clarify my interests, and get more things done.

One of the things I wanted to focus on more was photography. I first started to get into it when my grandfather gave me his 35 mm film camera when I was 12, although music was still my main interest. When I came to North Star I began to focus more on my photography. I met my friend Jesse and we started doing photography together and making videos. We both went from just having fun with point-and-shoots to having photo websites and getting paid photography work. I went to Mau’s photo and video class and talked with him about projects and ways to improve my skills. This year Catherine has been helping me to get some photo shows around town, including The NoSpace Galley in Thorne’s Marketplace in Northampton and Northampton Cooperative Bank. Over the summer I also had a show up in GoBerry, the frozen yogurt shop. Right now I spend most of my time on photography and music and I hope this will continue to be the case in the future.

In the next few years I want to meet other people who play the same music as me. I’m also looking forward to making a CD that I’m happy with. In terms of my photography, I’d like to get a show in a gallery and get more paid shoots. Even if I spend less time on either music or photography in the future, I expect that I will always have a passion for both. You can see my work at elicatlinphotography.com and hear it at elicatlin.com.

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When I had children, I had them already knowing that each one would be a complete individual and might need completely different circumstances or settings to be happy and successful in life. It became obvious at the start of 5th grade that going to school was nothing but a very unhappy situation for

Eli, despite his having really great friends and teachers who loved him. People saw him as happy, but he hid a deep unhappiness. At home he expressed this clearly.

Leaving school halfway through 5th grade was part of a process of slow discovery about what Eli needed as a learner and as an individual. Testing helped us to understand why being in any school setting would be challenging for him; it showed us why being in a room with walls and holding a piece of paper was challenging for him. But it didn’t answer the bigger question of how best to serve his brilliance and creativity.

My first attempt to make sure he had enough academics was to hire tutors and to follow a curriculum that seemed to match him as best as possible. That mostly worked, but it was hard. When we discovered that part of his soul was connected to music, and to the blues specifically, it all began to fit together for me. Eli was not a person to appreciate a lesson just for the lesson’s sake – anything he does needs to come from a really deep and soulful place.

In 7th grade he wanted to go back to school because he missed the socializing. I found him the most ideal environment that I could (there were 40 kids in this K-8

school) and he was beloved and appreciated by everyone. But the social-loving part of him was not enough to justify the torture for the rest of him that came from being in any academically structured setting. Once again I came to the realization that we needed to think outside the box.

When we met with Ken on that very first day of visiting North Star, Ken said: “We are not a school. Eli, you can do what you want to.” North Star really saved me, as a parent. We could use North Star in a very specific way to serve Eli’s own unique path. Here was a place where he could go and be social, and where there were other adults looking out for him. Here was a place where adults said to him: “Wow, there’s your brilliance and creativity – where do you want to put that? What do we have for you, where can this go, here are all these different avenues and exciting places, you get to pick and choose what you want to do.” Here was a place where someone besides me would help him organize and hold him accountable to his own dreams and goals.

As his mother, I want to harass him about things like taking out the trash, not have to feel totally responsible for seeing that he’s acquiring the organization he needs to be successful in life. You need both, and North Star helps me provide Eli with that combination without having to be everything for him on my own.

He’s met so many wonderful people at North Star: Mau has been really helpful with his photography, Josh is wonderful for connecting to his music, and he has found a guide in Catherine as someone he respects and wants to use as a resource to help him do what he wants to do. I see him taking more risks in a way that he wouldn’t in any other structure, because at North Star there’s no demand on him, but there’s constant and thoughtful offering to him. I see him opening more and more doors every day.

Finding the right fitBy Lori Schwatrz, Eli’s mother

Here was a place where someone besides me would help him

organize and hold him accountable to his own dreams and goals.

North Star to Honor Chris MartensonWe are pleased to announce that this year’s honoree at our 8th annual Celebration of Self-Directed Learning is Chris Martenson. Chris left high school in the 10th grade and went on to become a neurotoxicologist, and then the Vice President of a Fortune 300 company, and he is now at the forefront of economic, environmental, and energy forecasting. His educational journey and life’s work exemplifies our belief that learning is natural and school is optional.

We will present him with an award on April 29, 2012 at Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA. If you are interested in being in attendance, please be in touch with Sarah at sarah@northstarteens.org.

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North Star Photo Essay Local University of Massachusetts student Michelle Alcott recently spent some time at North Star for a photography assignment that required her to document a local community. We thought you’d like to see some of what she captured - we sure did!

"My son came home and told me, 'It’s the first place that I feel I really belong.'  I started crying right there, and I’m crying telling you now.  It’s like sitting next to a different kid. I’m so brilliantly happy I can’t tell you.  It’s so different from how he arrived home after a day in regular school.  Those are two words I thought I’d never hear from my son:  ‘I belong.’" - a current parent

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CURRENT NORTH STAR MEMBER IN UPCOMING WES ANDERSON MOVIE!Chandler Frantz will appear in Wes Anderson’s new movie Moonrise Kingdom which is set to be released this May and is opening the Cannes Film Festival. Homeschooling and North Star play a big role in Chandler’s ability to choose acting as his life’s passion. Congratulations, Chandler!

ALUMNI CHECK IN

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Where are you now? E-mail Sarah at sarah@northstarteens.org - like, seriously.

Miro Spraguemember from 1997 - 2003

From John, Miro’s father:Miro did not play the piano until he joined North Star at age 12. That year he fell in love with jazz, and decided he had to learn to play. As a homeschooler he was able to spend hours a day teaching himself. Within a couple years he was gigging at local venues and winning awards. He then went off to Manhattan School of Music for his BA. Miro just auditioned for the Thelonius Monk Institute at UCLA, in front of a panel of jazz greats including Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. The institute accepts a single ensemble of musicians every two years. Competing against some of the best young jazz pianists in the world, Miro was chosen for the piano position! He will be moving to LA for the next two years to study and tour under the direction of Herbie and other jazz masters resulting in a Master’s degree. Needless to say, Miro is thrilled.

Sam Bolliermember from 1999 - 2001

I went to North Star from 1999-2001, making the, in retrospect, excellent choice to skip middle school. After graduating from Brown University in 2009, I spent

several months apprenticing as an oral historian in rural West Virginia. Right now I'm living in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. I’m working as an online producer for Al Jazeera English, and reported on the always-colorful Republican primaries this January in New Hampshire and South Carolina. I’m not enjoying the desert heat and being so far away from Western Massachusetts - but I am liking the delicious food, the chance to work on my Arabic, and the proximity to Dubai.

NORTH STAR ALUM ON NBC’S THE VOICE!Naia Kete was invited to compete on the popular singing competition this season and ended up choosing country music super star Blake Shelton as her coach. As of this printing, she made it into the Battle Rounds. Go Naia!

BRAGGING RIGHTS

CURRENT NORTH STAR MEMBER TO PERFORM AT LINCOLN CENTERLiam Saito recently entered Youth America Grand Prix, the world's largest classical ballet scholarship competition. In the regional semi-finals in Torrington, CT, he placed in the top 12 in the Classical category for his age division, and took first prize in the Contemporary category, also in the Junior age division. He will advance to the finals in New York in April, competing with dancers from around the world and participating in scholarship classes, as well as a group performance at Lincoln Center. We are thrilled to be witnessing his successes.

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HELP SUPPORT NORTH STARWe’ve been changing lives for 16 years! We are committed to our policy of making membership available to any family, regardless of their ability to pay our full fee.  North Star receives NO state or institutional funding.  Individual donations help keep our doors open to any interested family.

North Star is a project of Learning Alternatives, Inc., a non-profit corporation under Massachusetts Law and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions to North Star are tax-deductible.

Thank you for your generosity!

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