“I support you failing spectacularly” might be the most freeing sentence a teacher can hear, and it sets the tone for a hopeful conversation about online Christian education done with courage and care. We celebrate what God is doing at NorthStar Academy through Katherine’s story as an alumna, teacher, and curriculum designer who turns research into practical tools for online student success. We talk about pacing, student agency, and the kind of supportive culture that helps students get unstuck and become lifelong learners.
• Katherine’s journey from student to teacher at NorthStar Academy
• Earning a master’s and applying capstone pacing research
• Designing online course tools that support student success right away
• “Failing spectacularly” as a leadership posture that fuels innovation
• Building student agency through reflection, good questions, and flexible project choices
• Reframing pacing as partnership, relationship, and individualized support
• Alumni council growth and the value of shared formative experience
Brandi Pihl
Brandi Pihl is a homeschool mom, former high school English teacher and nonprofit marketer, and current church communications manager for a large multi-site church in the Chicago suburbs. She has experience in church communications, nonprofit ministry marketing, Fortune 500 marketing, and education, and she spends her days helping her church share stories of life change to connect people to the gospel. She holds a BA in English with a minor in Bible from Cedarville University. Her husband, Rob, is a high school math teacher, and they live outside Chicago, with their 18- and 16-year-old sons.
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