“This really allows the students to take more initiative in their education and make their own decisions,” Rhinehardt said.
Rhinehardt, who is a science teacher, said her favorite part of the trip to Denmark was her visit to the Soro Science Camp. A boarding camp, completely funded by the Danish government, encourages more kids to pursue stem careers. Children are recommended around the age of 12 by their teachers and can continue to attend the camp until graduation, which, in Denmark, is around the age of 20.
“This camp has such an incredible facility,” Rhinehardt said, with some of the most exclusive instrumentation and robotics tools in the world. “The kids take this seriously, and when they leave they take their excitement for learning science back to the classroom.”
Rhinehardt was also able to set up contacts to use in her classroom and spoke with students candidly about education and life in Denmark.
“Even though our approach is much different from that of the school system in Denmark, the teachers still face a lot of the same obstacles as we do when it comes to getting children to challenge themselves with upper level classes,” Rhinehardt said.
She said she had the opportunity to meet with government officials about Denmark’s plans for energy use and being “carbon neutral” by 2050.
She said one thing she planned to bring back to her Chase High classroom was the ability to make different connections between science units and socioeconomic issues. Not only did Rhinehardt make connections with educators in Denmark that are only a Skype call away, “I have teachers now from Murphy to Manteo that I have connections with,” she said.