Northern Light Learning Center

- Emma Tanner
In-Depth Education Story

For many families accustomed to the public school system, taking the leap into homeschooling may seem like an insurmountable task. “A lot of the time people are very intimidated by homeschooling,” Jane Makarchuk of the Northern Light Learning Center says. “[People] think that they have to have special degrees and they have to have teaching experience, but you don’t, really. There are lot of resources out there, and there are a lot of people who can help you.”

The Northern Light Learning Center is just the resource. The NLLC is a homeschooling cooperative located in the Henry St. John Building in downtown Ithaca. The mission of the NLLC is “to create a community of homeschooling families and be able to provide opportunities to them - academic opportunities and social opportunities, even athletic opportunities, that they might otherwise not have,” Makarchuk says.

The NLLC offer a variety classes for homeschooling families. Classes are taught mainly by members of the Learning Center, but can also be taught by community members. “We have a theater class right now that’s being taught by a director from the Hangar Theater,” Makarchuk says.

Students choose classes that are of interest to them. During the enrollment period, the students rank the classes based on which classes they are most to least interested in. The instructor of the class decides how many students the class is open to, and which age groups the class will target.

Members of the Northern Light Learning Center are expected to contribute to the organization in some way. Most contribute by offering a course, but others take positions as administrative positions or help to clean around the Learning Center as ways to help out. “You can’t come to the learning center and just take,” Makarchuk says. “You have to give.”

The families who are involved in the NLLC are “from every walk of life,” Makarchuk says. The students range in ages 3 to 17, and the families come from various economic and social backgrounds. “The people who started the Learning Center are our members,” Makarchuk says. “There were four people with this vision and this idea, and they just did it.”

Makarchuk serves as Chairman on the Board of the NLLC, and is also a member of the Learning Center. She worked as a public school teacher for ten years, but decided to homeschool when it came time for her children to begin their education. Makarchuk stresses the importance of community at the Learning Center and its role as a resource in and beyond the Ithaca community. “For people who have thought of homeschooling, but have felt like they needed support, the Learning Center will help them make that decision,” says Makarchuk.

The Northern Light Learning Center has been well received in the Ithaca Community. “Everybody I talk to thinks [the NLLC] sounds really great,” Makarchuk says. “We haven’t had any negative reactions.” And why would they? Their cooperative community has offered a network of support for families who are working toward a common goal: an effective education for their children.