Fall 2011
LIBERATEDLEARNERS
Ken and teen members at the Parents Decide Conference in Marlborough, MA
Replicating North Star By Ken Danford, Executive Director
This fall North Star began the year with sixty-five members, our largest opening-day membership ever. The current teens are fully involved in our program: every activity and class on our calendar has plenty of participation, the weekly schedule contains over 70 one-on-one meetings between teens and adults, and our members are busy in the community with college classes, internships, and work. The parents of these teens are present and helpful as well. Our community is thriving. Our success has generated some attention from others interested in our model. This summer North Star hosted a replication workshop for educators called Start Right Now! We described our approach to seven groups from Princeton, Miami, Foxboro, Montreal, Otttawa, the Bronx, and Westchester. In the past few months, we’ve received inquiries about our program from educators in Portland,
Las Vegas, Denver, and Sydney, Australia! We may have an opportunity to travel to Los Angeles in the coming year, as well. The first project up and running this fall modeled after North Star is the Princeton Learning Cooperative, in Princeton, NJ. Founded by disillusioned public school teacher Joel Hammon, the program is utilizing much of North Star’s rhetoric and systems. Joel and his teens will be visiting North Star on November 21-22, and we encourage those of you interested in the replication process to make a point of stopping by to meet them. Our efforts to share our model provide a serious opportunity for reflection and self-evaluation. We know that North Star changes lives by providing an important option to teens and families who need something different from traditional schooling.
However, which aspects of our structure are essential, and which may be tweaked by others? What key skills must a core staff possess? What content must a program provide to make this approach appealing to those who need it the most? Is there a number of participants necessary for a critical mass? And finally, looming over all of these questions is the concern of finances and salaries. Can a founder establish a program and earn a living while doing so? North Star has some wisdom to share on these topics. I have begun spending some of my time every week discussing our model with those interested in replication. These conversations frequently involve other staff, members, and board members. We are energized by the possibilities, and we are all curious to see how we can contribute to spreading our approach to other communities.
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