Building a New Reality

Building a New Reality

Joshua Hornick and I created North Star (then called Pathfinder) back in 1996, but we were not the first people to think these thoughts. Back in 1977, pioneer thinker Ted Wachtel wrote a blueprint for a different approach to learning called Beyond the Schoolhouse. It...
We’re Back!

We’re Back!

We’ve had two weeks of in-person activity at North Star! Teens are inside the building for the first time since March 2020: going to classes, sitting on couches, cooking in the kitchen! I am seeing my colleagues face-to-face on a daily basis. We are re-establishing...
Catching Up on North Star

Catching Up on North Star

The past six weeks have been quite a fluid time at North Star, as we have been working to register members for the fall and update our Covid-19 policy in light of the Delta variant. With so much in flux, I have missed a few of my personal blog posting deadlines. Here...
I’m Done With This Meeting!

I’m Done With This Meeting!

Mid-July, about 30 minutes into a meeting with a new family, sitting at the table in the North Star office area: Youth: “I’m done with this meeting. I’ve heard enough. Can we go?”  Youth looks around, realizes that their comment sounded a bit harsh. Youth: “I mean, I...