- Reset + PDFPrint

News in pictures: President Ilves visited his former high school in New Jersey

The President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, paid a visit to the former Leonia High School in New Jersey, which he attended as a student between 1968 and 1972.

The Head of State spoke with the teachers and students of the school and had a look at the learning facilities. President Ilves's former maths teacher, Christine Cummings, who taught the President programming for the first time in 8th grade, also took part in the visit to the school.

"My interest in information technology was developed in Leonia High School, and for that I have to thank my maths teacher," said President Ilves at the meeting with teachers and students.

President Ilves discussed the increasing importance of science in the future system of education of digital societies with the Mayor of Leonia, a New Jersey State senator and a representative of the US Congress, who also accompanied the President on the visit.

President Ilves is an influential spokesman of digital society, both at domestic and international level; in 2011-2012, he led the European Union e-health work group; in 2012-2014 the leading committee of European Cloud Processing Partnership; in 2013, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); and was a co-leader in 2014-2015 in compiling the World Bank Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends. In the middle of the 1990s, he was an initiator of furnishing Estonian schools with computer classes and internet connections within the framework of the Tiger Leap project, which is one of the cornerstones of the Estonian population's IT-literacy and Estonia's current e-success story.

The former Leonia High School is today known as Leonia Middle School.


Office of the President
Public Relations Department