Lisa Odom, M.Ed.
Mission Advisor
College Consultant
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I am a passionate educator with over 30 years of experience in many public and private school settings. I was fortunate and proud to be the second executive director of Northstar School and am now serving as the Mission Advisor. I am a graduate of Arlington High School and attended Texas Tech University earning a degree in education with a reading specialization. Later, I earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from UTA.
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At Northstar School, it is my goal to help ensure an environment where students can be themselves and achieve their academic and personal best, exposing them to many different subjects, experiences, and activities, encouraging them to try new things to discover their passions and talents. Each student should feel completely comfortable to be who they are and follow their own individual paths, while still feeling a part of the student body as a whole.
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I am married to my high school sweetheart, Scott Odom, and together we have two adult children, Garrett and Ashley. I am very passionate about many things in my life, but teaching has always been near the top of my list. Even though I am the only educator in my family, I have always known I wanted to teach.
I am thankful and honored to be a part of the students’ lives at Northstar School. I strongly believe that the high expectations in Northstar’s small, nurturing environment are the keys to success and make Northstar a fabulous place to teach and learn. Together, with the most talented staff and mentors around, it is my sincere hope to make a positive influence on the development of all Northstar students!
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Joel Dixon, M.Ed.
Executive Director
Leadership Development
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Working with a group of people to make a difference in students’ lives is one of the most meaningful and rewarding experiences you can have in life, and I feel so privileged to have joined this community of learners. I was born in Fort Worth, but spent most of my growing up years in Spain before moving back to the US to get my degree in education at Oklahoma Baptist University. I then moved back overseas to work in Kenya and then the UK (where I also got my Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of London). In 2022 my family and I moved back to settle into life in Texas and I joined the amazing Northstar team.
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Throughout my career I’ve had the privilege of seeing a variety of educational models and been a part of various schools but I have always found that the best schools are those that are small and caring, where relationships matter and students are valued uniquely for who they are, where students’ best interests are at the center of decision-making, and where community is important. When schools value their students and promote a culture of appreciating differences and broadening perspectives, then rich learning experiences flow naturally from that. This is exactly the type of school that I feel Northstar is.
I am a firm believer in the fact that we are life-long learners, and we need to model this passion for learning and knowledge to our students in real ways. Over the years I’ve been involved in a multitude of extra-curricular activities, lead and organized a number of overseas trips, coached students and organized tournaments for both soccer and chess, played in the orchestra with students during a musical performance, and gotten involved in fun activities to raise money for charity. These have been invaluable events for students, further strengthening relationships of trust and highlighting the importance of enriching life experiences that can take students out of their comfort zones and teach them something new about themselves.
It is through observing and appreciating the differences between us that we are able to broaden students’ perspectives and truly give them a holistic education that prepares them for the complexities of our modern world. I am passionate about developing students' ability and desire to learn through our leadership class. Our aim and purpose at Northstar is that students will develop a sense of agency in their lives and discover both the world and their identity in the process.
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