It's a small world: when this Minnesota leader travels, he takes home more than souvenirs. (Administrator profile: Ted Blaesing).

It's a small world: when this Minnesota leader travels, he takes home more than souvenirs. (Administrator profile: Ted Blaesing). Where in the World is Theodore Blaesing? It's the newest twist in educational games. Since 1998, this White Bear Lake (Minn.) Area Schools' leader has spent three weeks each in Germany and Japan, soaking up ways to improve education at home. He learned American T-shirts are worth their weight in gold. Skateboarding skateboardingForm of recreation, popular among youths, in which a person rides standing balanced on a small board mounted on wheels. The skateboard first appeared in the early 1960s on paved areas along California beaches as a makeshift diversion for surfers when the ocean is an international teen language. And he could save a ton of money by having students and staff clean their schools at day's end. The Fulbright-sponsored travels also taught this 27-year education veteran and former state Superintendent of the Year that American education hasn't been left out in the cold. "It was an over-the-top experience," Blaesing says. At first, his 1998 German trip left him sputtering A popular method for adhering thin films onto a substrate. Sputtering is done by bombarding a target material with a charged gas (typically argon) which releases atoms in the target that coats the nearby substrate. It all takes place inside a magnetron vacuum chamber under low pressure. : "We'd never do this, and that wouldn't fly in America.' Then I realized we're more alike than different. For instance, they're more rigid, yet we design our ... curriculums to start separating kids and send them down different paths. Someone from Mars couldn't describe the difference." Visiting Hashimoto, Japan, in 2001 allowed an even deeper look into a foreign system. As in Germany, the superintendent attended classes and met with educators. But this time he stayed with a local family. Tours included colleges, cultural sites and industrial facilities. Through online journal entries, White Bear students could follow his adventures and observations. As for the schools, Blaesing landed assuming his hosts would bow at the altar of inflexibility in��flex��i��ble?adj.1. Not easily bent; stiff or rigid.2. Incapable of being changed; unalterable.3. Unyielding in purpose, principle, or temper; immovable. and cold testing. After all, he says, the U.S. is "transfixed on 'Gee, our kids aren't performing as well as kids in--and fill in the blank: Hong Kong Hong Kong(hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. , Norway, Sweden, Japan ...' "I saw wonderful teaching that allowed kids to be creative, to take knowledge from one level and apply it at another," he says. Asian educators were sensitive to the system's pressures. Administrators fretted over tenured ten��ured?adj.Having tenure: tenured civil servants; tenured faculty.Adj. 1. tenured teachers who stopped growing and over how to reward the brightest teachers. "We deal with the same problems," Blaesing notes, "but our schools reflect the cultures in which they operate.... For us to assume they should embrace our way would be a horrible mistake." Still, international educators are intrigued by how American schools handle diversity. "Including all kids is mind-boggling. They very much want to open their systems to emulate em��u��late?tr.v. em��u��lat��ed, em��u��lat��ing, em��u��lates1. To strive to equal or excel, especially through imitation: an older pupil whose accomplishments and style I emulated.2. ours," he says. School board vice chair Sandy Rummel says Blaesing makes the perfect ambassador. "Our kids come with greater needs. The demands from everybody are higher and resources fewer. Yet Ted keeps this optimistic op��ti��mist?n.1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome.2. A believer in philosophical optimism.op , positive focus." A New Mission Blaesing readily admits to a changed leadership approach due to his travels. "It's OK to have a degree Of tension within your organization," he says. "Consensus is wonderful, but I don't think it's the best way to build a free and open education system. Exit interviews with seniors in White Bear Lake show they yearn to better understand other countries, so Blaesing is paving the way for a new world cultures course. Some day, he'd like to establish an elementary magnet school magnet schooln.A public school offering a specialized curriculum, often with high academic standards, to a student body representing a cross section of the community. built on world cultures. And he's calmly prepared for any internal flak that may result. This unflappable manner hasn't gone unnoticed. Local Chamber of Commerce President Patricia Brannan says she's seen it in the superintendent's approach to school board referendums and other controversies. But like any leader, Blaesing has had worries. "My biggest fear about taking these [travel] opportunities during the school year was, What are people going to think? 'The guy can traipse around the world wandering WanderingSee also Adventurousness, Bohemianism, Journey, Quest.AhasuerusGerman name for the Wandering Jew. [Ger. Lit. into other schools--why doesn't he wander in our own once in a while?'" Instead, he received a single word of feedback from all corners: "Cool." "Here we superintendents are leading an organization whose primary purpose is learning. For Heaven's sake, we need to demonstrate that ourselves," he says. "Take advantage, drink and absorb as much as you can from the pool." Ted Blaesing Superintendent, White Bear Lake (Minn.) Area Schools Age: 54 Salary: $130,000 Tenure in district: 10 years Traveling must-haves: Being open to a new adventure--and running shoes Childhood career aspiration aspiration/as��pi��ra��tion/ (as?pi-ra��shun)1. the drawing of a foreign substance, such as the gastric contents, into the respiratory tract during inhalation.2. : Second baseman second basemann. BaseballThe infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base.Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second basesecond sacker for a major league team Most surprising hobby: "I'm a Parrot Head" (the official name for Jimmy Buffet fans) Julie Sturgeon sturgeon,primitive fish of the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Unlike evolutionarily advanced fishes, it has a fine-grained hide, with very reduced scalation, a mostly cartilaginous skeleton, upturned tail fins, and a mouth set well back on the is a freelance writer and editor based in Indianapolis.