Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

You know, there was a question and she knew perfectly well what the answer was that she was supposed to answer on this AP biology test, but she wondered why it wasn't another explanation.

And she wanted to put that so she could get feedback on why that couldn't be true also.

But she knew that wasn't what they were looking for and she knew you have to get an A on this class or you're not going to get to go to college.

So she had to not ask, right?

And she was angry about that.

So we were looking for an opportunity for her to really grow herself in a different kind of school, just for a bit.

In Denmark, they have schools called efterskoles, after-school school.

And what they are is a one-year opportunity in a kind of a folk school format to come together with youth from across the country who share interests

with you.

So kids from all walks of life from across Denmark who share an interest in orchestra music go to one of these schools, in sports, in arts, right?

These kids sort of find one of these community schools and they opt into an extra year of school in between their required school, which ends in ninth grade, which is a little older than our ninth grade,

And then making a choice about what kind of adult trajectory they're going to take.

Are they going to go on to more education or travel or do work or what?

And so these kids all come together and the school that my daughter attended, she was the only foreign student.

And so the school was about what they called social studies.

It was about situating yourself as a Danish citizen in this historical context and using math, science, outdoor activities, service to the community, historical analysis, all these things to try to really think about what do we want for our nation?

My daughter attended this school the year after President Trump was elected the first time, and people in Europe were concerned about a Syrian refugee crisis.

There were people pouring into the continent from terrible refugee situations.

They were trying to absorb them in, but they also were having a crisis of identity themselves.

How do we manage with all these new citizens who don't garden and eat like us, right?