03/23/2026
Last week, Peter Haydock from Gearbox Labs, along with Isabel Mendiola, traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, to attend the Nobel Prize Museum's Global Educator Summit focusing on global health issues.
We are beyond grateful for the opportunity and deeply appreciative of the museum staff for putting this conference together.
We connected with educators from around the world to learn about and discuss global health issues, while also finding common ground as teachers who seek to inspire every student in our classrooms.
We both returned to Milwaukee transformed after sharing tables and meals with teachers from Greece, China, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Uganda, Canada, Sweden, and many more places.
First, the international educators met and shared our backgrounds.
Then we visited schools in Stockholm, learned about the Swedish education system, met students in their classrooms, and talked about the challenges and rewards of being a teacher. Being in a classroom and seeing both the differences and similarities between U.S. and Swedish schools was remarkable.
The conference then expanded into its main day, where we listened to experts share their research, experience, and wisdom, and broke into discussion groups to reflect on challenges.
We learned about supporting students' mental health, learning, and safety. Experts discussed antibiotic resistance and its impact on populations. We reflected on Nobel Prize winners in Medicine and what we might expect in the future. A global tech reporter shared insights on AI and education.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), spoke to us about global health challenges.
We also heard from a surgeon and a logistics expert from Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF/ who spoke about how the organization operates in conflict zones.
The highlight of the conference was hearing Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry (2022), Morten Meldal, speak about his experiences as a leader in research, a teacher, a principal investigator, and a lifelong learner.
Quotes from Dr. Meldal that struck home:
"If there is no [red] carpet rollout for you, keep going."
"To do good research, be a rebel."
"Disrupt the knowledge you already have."
"All research starts with failure."
"You only learn when you want to learn."
"Innovation is an act of rebellion."
Every speaker shared observations about the role of teachers within and across their organizations.
With topics changing each year, we plan to return next year and continue this journey.
