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By Robin Steiner, assistant superintendent of Kearsarge Regional School District (SAU #65)

China has been at the top of my list of "places to visit" for many years. My wish came true when I was recently selected by the College Board in the United States and Hanban in China for a nine-day educational exchange with China. In June, I joined 400 educators from all parts of our country in Beijing. There we began our cultural orientation and then split up into several groups that were sent to schools all over China.

As reported in the Providence Journal, the first two options were not feasible. Since the city has only one high school, closure was not possible. And taking over a failing school is not something charter or management organizations often want to take on. Originally, the teachers agreed to the third option, which would have meant more training and more time spent in and out of the classroom. But the two sides could not agree on compensation and other issues, leading the superintendent to recommend firing everyone. While the unions are fighting the move, U.S.

There has been a great deal of discussion about today’s high school curriculum and how to be best preparing young adults for the 21st century and a global economy. Whether it be school-to-work opportunities, foreign exchanges, civics education or other programs, getting students involved in community seems to be a common theme. For the past 13 years, one high school in New Hampshire has quietly been getting seniors involved on the local level as a requirement to graduate.

It seems like only a year or two ago that my school board engaged in heated discussions about banning cell phones, iPods and other electronic gizmos from school. We talked for hours about cyberbullying and cheating versus the needs of parents to arrange for rides to sports and activities, emergency uses and more. We tried to establish limits: use in cafeterias or buses only, or limiting the hours of use to before or after school. We had the superintendent bring us policies and we wrangled on into the night and from meeting to meeting.

Wow. That’s the first word that comes to mind after my visit to the new Windham High School. Last month’s column on changing technology prompted an alert reader to suggest I pay a visit to this 21st century school to see how technology is already being implemented in a big way.