Coming Full Circle- Mrs. Clark’s Student to Teacher Story
By Rebecca C.
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.
Student life was quite different when Mrs. Clark attended as well. Using FirstClass, NSA’s old messaging platform, students would talk to each other, however the old technology caused students and teachers to be faced with certain problems. For example, private messaging was only available when both people were online at the same time, making it difficult to have any ongoing conversations and to get in contact with people. Though live call events were yet to be utilized at NorthStar and the technology was slow and rudimentary, students still found ways to have fun with their friends online! Mrs. Clark said that some of the same things that students enjoy now were around when she was a student at NSA such as the “Noble and Ancient Thread,” “Hand Me That Stick,” role playing, school dances, and of course the time honored tradition of food fights!
After high school, Mrs. Clark got her B.A. in History and Education from Mount Holyoke College. Even from a young age, she enjoyed talking to others and “playing school” with her family. “I really like discussing things with people,” Mrs. Clark said, “and I really like having deep conversations and debates. I like to hear how people think!” She also has a heart for sharing the gospel with others around the world. However it was clear to her that traveling overseas to be a missionary was not what God had in mind for her at this point in her life.
After teaching and tutoring in various in-person settings, Mrs. Clark applied to NorthStar Academy to be a middle school and high school Social Studies teacher and was interviewed by two of her former teachers! Now, she currently teaches Survey of World Leaders and both the VRP and EVP versions of History 310 (High School US History). Mrs. Clark loves teaching at NorthStar for many reasons, one of which is that she loves the diverse group of students with many different backgrounds. “This can sometimes make conversations challenging, but I think that there’s such value in working through hard conversations together,” said Mrs. Clark. “We’re all Children of God, we’re all Christians, and being able to all have that foundation lets us approach tougher questions.” Mrs. Clark also enjoys the flexibility of NorthStar. She can do what she loves: teaching, sharing the Word, and connecting with people around the world, and still be at home with her family!
“Experiencing NSA from both a student and teacher’s side, I think, has made me a more empathetic teacher,” Mrs. Clark said. She can understand the challenges that online students go through, such as getting behind in school, or having unengaging assignments. When writing the classes she teaches, she uses various techniques in an attempt to get all sorts of types of students excited about what they’re learning.
All in all, Mrs. Clark’s experiences as both a student and a teacher at NSA prove that though the technology, students, and way of teaching have changed greatly over time, the heart of NorthStar has remained the same. “The very endearing, quirkiness of NorthStar is still the same,” Mrs. Clark said. “These people that are great, and awesome, and care about Jesus, but also- we’re weird!” What do they call it? Ah yes... just a little bit iNSAne.
Columns: 👤NSA People
Rebecca C. started at NSA in January of 2021. She lives in Massachusetts in the US. She is in 8th grade and enjoys filmmaking, writing, and loves animals.