The Foreign Service Journal, December 2004

trip to Italy. All the while, Copenhagen was a safe haven, with efficient public transportation and bicycle paths, giving me the freedom to explore the city. The teachers were a vital part of the CIS experience. I worshipped some of them. And they cared about the students. In 1994, when one of the former CIS students died of med- icinal complications at the age of 26, three former teachers attended her funeral. Dr. Engelberg, IB examiner and English teacher, said that it is the students and the atmosphere that have kept him at CIS for 17 years. “The students at CIS are unique and difficult to leave behind.” He said that CIS has “a spirit of care and respect and sober academic aspirations,” and that CIS prepares students for univer- sity and adult life by trying to “make them competent in everything they do, including the choices they have to make.” Dr. Engelberg added that as a teacher, he aims to help his students realize their potential and become competent managers of their own lives. As for students wanting to become English teachers, he said wryly, “Although it’s intended as a compliment, it also suggests that my attempts to make those students capa- ble, independent human beings have, as yet, not met with any success.” Here, There and Everywhere: School Experiences For most students, the school’s location and related activities were a positive experience. “Seeing Roman ruins when studying about Romans, visiting Istanbul when learning about the Islamic world,” is the way one respondent put it. This was especial- ly true for those who attended high school in Italy: history class taught on location in Rome, taught by people who “are very steeped in it and made it completely alive.” One cited the special effect of studying the history of the Middle East told from both sides with children from both sides in the classroom. Others recalled the 74 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 4 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT Continued from page 71 Continued on page 76 I spent 9th grade in Fairfax, Va., but that year pales in comparison with the following three years at Copenhagen International School in Denmark.