For many high schoolers, Mr. Zeman is not an unfamiliar face. After all, he’s seen most of us in our embarrassing middle school days as an 8th grade Social Studies teacher. However, this year you’ll probably see him around more often— Mr. Zeman has transitioned to the Puxi High School, and is currently teaching AP Seminar and Year 2 students in the Innovation Program.
Why did he make the transition? “The Innovation Institute really appealed to me in the sense that prior to the accessibility of any piece of information on the internet, the teacher was the arbiter, or the gatekeeper, of information,” Mr. Zeman explains. “[nowadays] that it is no longer the case.”
“One of the consequences is that the traditional classroom that we know of doesn’t make as much sense,” Mr. Zeman adds. “[in Innovation] there is a greater emphasis on creation— one quote that always resonated with me is ‘if what we create doesn’t make other people feel, then we have created nothing’.”
Mr. Zeman, a native of Denver, Colorado, cites the city as a large influence on the person he’s become. “Denver is located right on the front range of the Rocky Mountains, so you’re two hours away from complete isolation and not seeing a person for a month,” Mr. Zeman also adds. “but at the same time, you can go into this vibrant city.”
After living in Denver for most of his life, it goes without saying that moving to Shanghai was probably the biggest turning point of his life. By moving away from his home, Mr. Zeman realized his deep love for his roots. “When we moved to Shanghai, I never realized how much I loved Denver and how much I appreciated the beauty and the natural elements that surrounded me,” Mr. Zeman says. “moving to Shanghai made me love my home, which I have lived in for 30 years, even more than ever.”
His move to Shanghai also presented the opportunity to teach at SAS, which also transformed his perspective of the world. “One of the really interesting things I’ve come to discover is that hard work really matters— [it] trumps everything,” Mr. Zeman says. “SAS provides a ridiculous amount of opportunities for kids on all levels, but you still have to work hard to actually shape the opportunity given to you.”
Another opportunity presented by teaching at SAS is coaching— Mr. Zeman has been the coach of the Varsity Boys Volleyball team for 3 years. “With coaching you get to see [students] in different venues, so it really opened my eyes that the kid I see in my class is only an isolated window into their skill set,” Mr. Zeman explains. “it always reminds that were all capable of tons of different things, so I shouldn’t formulate my opinions of people based on isolated windows I see them in— there is so much more to all of us.”
The opportunities provided in the field of education within SAS system are also valuable. “One of the cool things about SAS is that the colleagues here desire that the institution performs at its highest level,” he explains. “it’s fantastic to be around people who are constantly trying to improve the state of our school, and you can talk about change and make it happen if you’re passionate enough about it.”
Above all else, moving to Shanghai changed him fundamentally as a person. “Travel and experiences allow you to reformulate what you thought you knew.” Mr. Zeman says, “discovering the nuance of the world was the best benefit of moving out here.”
“Pretend that you’re ordering from a menu where there are only two options— that’s all that you know that exists,” he explains, “once you start to see and discover more things you realize that there’s so many more options and ways of life.”
“I thought I had a lot of opinions and beliefs, but traveling made me to interact with a myriad of different cultures, peoples, religions and ideas,” Mr. Zeman says. In addition to interactions from travelling, he also has the experience teaching students with all sorts of backgrounds in the international community of SAS. Combined with his openness to different belief structures, these discoveries allow Mr. Zeman to develop a unique perspective about the world around him.
Additionally, he also understands how this perspective may also differ from the students of SAS. “Sometimes as teachers, we’re very disconnected from our clientele,” Mr. Zeman says, “it’s very easy for me as an American adolescent, who never felt the pressure that some of our kids here feel, to tell them follow your dreams, be happy, and pursue that [goal] because I’ve never known anything else. That was the only thing my parents ever told me, so our understanding of pressure is vastly different.”
“When kids ask about advice or are talking about stress it’s important for me to know that I can sympathize but I can’t empathize,” he elaborates. “I can try get it, and understand them better, but it’s hard for me to preach because I haven’t encountered the same pressures.”
Despite those “differences,” Mr. Zeman is also similar to us in many ways. For example, one of his hobbies is exercise. “As a kid, I learned very early on that life can be unfair, but exercising was the one thing that was literally input and output,” Mr. Zeman describes. “My level of work and dedication and discipline translates perfectly— there is nothing lost in translation in the terms that my work equals my result.”
(Mr. Wood kindly pointed out that Mr. Zeman’s definition of “working out” involves drinking a hot Starbucks and scrolling through Instagram)
At the end of the day, teaching is not only a job but a passion for Mr. Zeman. “The best thing about teaching is watching kids grow— just watching kids develop into young adults is deeply cool.” Mr. Zeman said.
“I have the utmost respect for our kids’ capabilities, because I know when I was young, I was way too scared to put myself out there as much as our kids do here at SAS.” Mr. Zeman concludes. “Our students do more than I ever thought young people were capable of.”
Alice Qin
 |
| (Courtesy of Mr. Zeman) |
Why did he make the transition? “The Innovation Institute really appealed to me in the sense that prior to the accessibility of any piece of information on the internet, the teacher was the arbiter, or the gatekeeper, of information,” Mr. Zeman explains. “[nowadays] that it is no longer the case.”
“One of the consequences is that the traditional classroom that we know of doesn’t make as much sense,” Mr. Zeman adds. “[in Innovation] there is a greater emphasis on creation— one quote that always resonated with me is ‘if what we create doesn’t make other people feel, then we have created nothing’.”
Mr. Zeman, a native of Denver, Colorado, cites the city as a large influence on the person he’s become. “Denver is located right on the front range of the Rocky Mountains, so you’re two hours away from complete isolation and not seeing a person for a month,” Mr. Zeman also adds. “but at the same time, you can go into this vibrant city.”
 |
| (Courtesy of Mr. Zeman) |
After living in Denver for most of his life, it goes without saying that moving to Shanghai was probably the biggest turning point of his life. By moving away from his home, Mr. Zeman realized his deep love for his roots. “When we moved to Shanghai, I never realized how much I loved Denver and how much I appreciated the beauty and the natural elements that surrounded me,” Mr. Zeman says. “moving to Shanghai made me love my home, which I have lived in for 30 years, even more than ever.”
His move to Shanghai also presented the opportunity to teach at SAS, which also transformed his perspective of the world. “One of the really interesting things I’ve come to discover is that hard work really matters— [it] trumps everything,” Mr. Zeman says. “SAS provides a ridiculous amount of opportunities for kids on all levels, but you still have to work hard to actually shape the opportunity given to you.”
Another opportunity presented by teaching at SAS is coaching— Mr. Zeman has been the coach of the Varsity Boys Volleyball team for 3 years. “With coaching you get to see [students] in different venues, so it really opened my eyes that the kid I see in my class is only an isolated window into their skill set,” Mr. Zeman explains. “it always reminds that were all capable of tons of different things, so I shouldn’t formulate my opinions of people based on isolated windows I see them in— there is so much more to all of us.”
 |
| (Courtesy of Mr. Zeman) |
The opportunities provided in the field of education within SAS system are also valuable. “One of the cool things about SAS is that the colleagues here desire that the institution performs at its highest level,” he explains. “it’s fantastic to be around people who are constantly trying to improve the state of our school, and you can talk about change and make it happen if you’re passionate enough about it.”
Above all else, moving to Shanghai changed him fundamentally as a person. “Travel and experiences allow you to reformulate what you thought you knew.” Mr. Zeman says, “discovering the nuance of the world was the best benefit of moving out here.”
“Pretend that you’re ordering from a menu where there are only two options— that’s all that you know that exists,” he explains, “once you start to see and discover more things you realize that there’s so many more options and ways of life.”
“I thought I had a lot of opinions and beliefs, but traveling made me to interact with a myriad of different cultures, peoples, religions and ideas,” Mr. Zeman says. In addition to interactions from travelling, he also has the experience teaching students with all sorts of backgrounds in the international community of SAS. Combined with his openness to different belief structures, these discoveries allow Mr. Zeman to develop a unique perspective about the world around him.
Additionally, he also understands how this perspective may also differ from the students of SAS. “Sometimes as teachers, we’re very disconnected from our clientele,” Mr. Zeman says, “it’s very easy for me as an American adolescent, who never felt the pressure that some of our kids here feel, to tell them follow your dreams, be happy, and pursue that [goal] because I’ve never known anything else. That was the only thing my parents ever told me, so our understanding of pressure is vastly different.”
“When kids ask about advice or are talking about stress it’s important for me to know that I can sympathize but I can’t empathize,” he elaborates. “I can try get it, and understand them better, but it’s hard for me to preach because I haven’t encountered the same pressures.”
Despite those “differences,” Mr. Zeman is also similar to us in many ways. For example, one of his hobbies is exercise. “As a kid, I learned very early on that life can be unfair, but exercising was the one thing that was literally input and output,” Mr. Zeman describes. “My level of work and dedication and discipline translates perfectly— there is nothing lost in translation in the terms that my work equals my result.”
(Mr. Wood kindly pointed out that Mr. Zeman’s definition of “working out” involves drinking a hot Starbucks and scrolling through Instagram)
At the end of the day, teaching is not only a job but a passion for Mr. Zeman. “The best thing about teaching is watching kids grow— just watching kids develop into young adults is deeply cool.” Mr. Zeman said.
“I have the utmost respect for our kids’ capabilities, because I know when I was young, I was way too scared to put myself out there as much as our kids do here at SAS.” Mr. Zeman concludes. “Our students do more than I ever thought young people were capable of.”
Alice Qin
