Like a whirlwind of positive change, Anya Eskildsen – president of Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College – brings to Solvang her idea that the best way for young people to learn the skills necessary for a global world is to experience the world as they learn.
“I love the concept,” says superintendent Paul Turnbull, though loving it and making it happen are altogether two different things.
Eskildsen just shrugs her shoulders. Finding new ways to do the same old thing is her forte. Mix that with an engaging smile, gutsy determination and unique set of people skills – what you end up with is a force to be reckoned with. That, says Turnbull, is how Mark Swanitz, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School principal, describes her.
When Turnbull walked away from his first meeting with Eskildsen, he was intrigued but uncertain. In Canada, where Turnbull hails from, international exchange programs are widely undertaken by students and teachers. But, could the idea of bringing 30 international students to study come to fruition in an American public school setting? “I was unfamiliar with any provision which would allow a basic aid school to receive tuition for students. I wasn’t sure it was allowed.”
Eskildsen was undaunted. She calmly set about ensuring the first blush of enthusiasm stayed alive. So with everyone from Solvang city officials to the administration of both schools eager to create the opportunities Eskildsen touted, Turnbull took a little closer look at the regulations.
“My first thought was that Niels Brock would open a charter school,” he says, but that raised budget concerns. Turnbull isn’t prepared to do anything that will in any way limit rather than expand the resources of Valley students. Armed with his personal experiences and Eskildsen’s contagious passion, Turnbull “set out to find out if it could work,” he says. “I was happy to learn that Anya has done this in several other countries as well.” Niels Brock has similar programs in China and Vietnam, and Eskilden has a strong background in education to balance her international reputation for being a force in modern education.
She taught economics for several years at the high school and college level and came away with the belief that there must be a better way to do it. When her husband saw an advertisement for a program director at Niels Brock, it opened the door to begin designing programs that provide the diversity in education Eskildsen believes today’s youth need.
The first programs she was responsible for were those designed for students who dropped out of school and were coming back, not too dissimilar from the American GED program. Three years later, the VP office was open and it was a natural fit for her. From there, the school asked her to fill the top slot.
As president, Eskildsen continues to note that the world is changing at lightning speed. Students need the ability to move at tomorrow’s tempo today. That is an idea the local administration and board are already embracing with their push toward teaching 21st century skills.
“You look at how fast our youth communicate and how fast everything comes at them, and then you realize that traditional education is too slow. It is important to keep up,” says Eskildsen. Her mission is to get as much technology meshed into student learning as possible. But that alone isn’t enough. It can’t take the place of the personal experiences necessary to promote the level of tolerance the world needs.
To that end, Eskildsen provides her own children the experiences she hopes to provide others – making sure each takes time to study abroad. “We travel a lot with them. I think it’s important for parents to spend a lot of time with their kids” and be very involved with their lives at school, she says.
Dressed all in white, sitting back in her Adirondack chair, Eskildsen possess a confidence steeped in concern. Absent is any hint of arrogance. Her blue eyes sparkle as she talks of her own three children, her family, her wonderful home by the sea. As she voices her concern for the future, the lines blur and it is difficult to draw a distinction between what she wants for her own children and her goals for her greater circle of “family” that encompasses her students.
The Western World is in upheaval. “We need to find someone to find a solution,” she says. “It’s likely the answer is going to come out of today’s youth.” But without a rich understanding of other cultures, that isn’t going to happen. “The reason I work is to make education better for people.” Included in that group are teachers, parents, students and all those whose lives are interwoven.
Eskildsen is quick to point out that the advantages of an exchange program are not limited to the students coming to Solvang. “This will be an especially great opportunity for the families housing the Danish students,” she says. It’s one thing to read about other cultures in the abstract and a totally different experience to share that diversity every day with people who quickly become friends.
So with help of many hands, the first exchange is underway. What you will see in the Valley is a bunch of well-educated students, Eskildsen says. “Their English is very good. They bring new inspiration to those with Danish blood, which is very exciting.”
Of the more than 200 Niels Brock applicants for the first 30 spots, 137 were straight-A students. “I was not an A student – definitely not,” she admits. “I never got the very high grades, not in high school, not in university,” so each and every candidate was interviewed to ensure a good match.
“It’s so important to broaden their horizons,” says Eskildsen. Already this year’s exchange students are experiencing cultural differences. Of great surprise to them is America’s addiction to cars. In Demark, almost everyone rides bikes. “Our students will be able to share what life is like in Denmark today” – especially for youth. Then she laughs as a memory flashes across her face. Walking down the street, she overheard tourists from her homeland comment how Solvang’s version of Danish favorites aren’t made in the same way as back home. “The Danish way isn’t the only or the best way,” says Eskildsen. “It’s a small world. We need to understand each other,” she says pointing out that your next business associate may be someone from a different country who speaks a different language.
More than almost anything else, what students need to achieve is a love of learning – a desire to keep absorbing information even after they walk away, diplomas in hand. This program, Eskildsen believes, will help accomplish that.
With the first step underway, Eskildsen is already working to create a true exchange program – one where students and teachers will have the opportunity to study or teach in each other’s country free of charge. But until then, the door is open nonetheless, she says.
“We have a lot of programs that are taught entirely in English, so we have the ability right now to offer our programs to American students.” The only hitch is that for the moment, just as the Danes are paying tuition, so will Valley students who want to travel to Denmark for school.
Her door is open, the welcome mat in place. Just send an email, she says with a smile.
a href="mailto:struax@syvjournal.com">struax@syvjournal.com