Stonington - Paul Geise, head of school at Pine Point School, traveled across the world to Kenya, on the edge of the Indian Ocean, to participate in an international conference about education.

The theme of the 2001 Global Connections Seminar was Student Leadership.

Geise, who said, "Education in its true essence is a transforming experience," came away convinced environmental, economic and political realities demand that we open our minds to look beyond our own communities, countries, continents and planet.

He says looking at things globally is not an option but a necessity in the 21st century.

The international school leader discussions began five years ago with a goal to provide an annual forum for school leaders to share and comment about issues that influence and affect secondary eduction. Ninety-nine educators representing 27 nations from Australia to Zimbabwe attended the recent conclave.

While on his way to the conference site in Nairobi, Geise had the opportunity to visit with former colleagues in England. Geise and his family had lived there for several years when he served as Divisional head for The American School, before assuming duties at Pine Point.

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In Nairobi, Geise found people to be "warm, gentle and sincere," despite the gulf between the wealth of some residents and the poverty of others.

The discussions among educators were held at the Starehe Boys Center a school that is attended by students from all over Kenya. Many students, Geise said, are disadvantaged or orphaned and receive free room and board and education. Other students pay fees based on parental means.

Geise said 20,000 students apply to the school annually but only 200 are accepted each year. The school, open 365 days a year, is for boys ages 12-19.

The Center is a testimony to the power of education, he said, located as it is on a pristine campus in the middle of a slum neighborhood.

Driving up to the school gates of what he described as "this oasis in a ghetto," Geise saw open pits of burning garbage, open bathing in small streams, and people sitting on the ground in the local park because there were no benches.

But he found remarkable characteristics at the Starehe Boys Center where there were no instances of bullying but rather a display of great respect among students and a high regard for the school itself.

"In its truest sense Starehe demonstrates education that happens not "to" or "for" but "by" the students," he said.

"No fewer than 30 percent of all Kenya's doctors and scientists come from this school," Geise said. He noted that Starehe places more graduates annually in Kenyan universities than any other school in the country and has also placed students with significant scholarships at U.S. universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford and the University of Virginia.

He said he was impressed that so many of the students seem destined to become leaders because of the attitudes and characteristics they demonstrate daily.

Geise feels strongly that many of the qualities that go into being a good leader are qualities that Pine Point works to instill in its students and so he is an advocate of student exchange programs.

"I went as an emissary to effect a connection with people from other countries to start a cultural exchange," he said.

He found the program for "putting people in touch with people" to be a basis where they share their likes and dislikes and in many instances find them similar. He said, "The rhythm of life is distinctive no matter where you go."

Geise is already at work creating a student leadership model similar to the one he witnessed at the Starehe Boys' Center, and is discussing student exchanges with educators worldwide.

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