It used to be that a college education would guarantee a person a job after graduation. Nowadays, all a college degree can do is help a person land a job interview, according to Lake Washington School District (LWSD) Superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball.

As globalization becomes more and more of a reality, young people in the United States entering the job market will be going head to head with their peers from around the world — not just around the country.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kimball spoke at the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce’s monthly member luncheon about how LWSD is working to make sure their students will be able to compete on an international level.

He touched on the district’s mission to have each student graduate prepared to be a contributing member of the community and greater society as well as their vision of every student future ready — prepared for college, the global workplace and personal success.

Kimball said this goes beyond making sure students succeed academically; they need to develop personal attributes such as respect for others, a good work ethic and the ability to work well with others in order to be successful.

One of the ways LWSD is working to instill these qualities is making sure each student is connected to at least one adult in the district so they feel they have a voice in their future and that they have value.

Kimball told the lunch crowd that this was missing during his high school career. He said he felt disconnected from his school and eventually just stopped caring. As a result, Kimball just stopped going to school. He missed about 100 days of school during his junior and senior years of high school and scraped by with a 1.1 grade point average.

“I was, for all intents and purposes, a high school dropout,” he admitted.

When asked about how he turned things around, Kimball said it happened after he was accepted into Whitworth University in Spokane on academic probation. He became more engaged in his education as he developed personal connections with his professors at the college.

Kimball said even with the best practices and most up-to-date technology available, none of it will matter unless students are engaged.

“It still comes down to personal relationships,” he said.

Kimball told the room of business owners, many of whom were also parents, that the best way to connect with young people is to “jump into their world.” He said he connects with his two daughters through text messaging and shopping.

Kimball also spoke about his leaving LWSD at the end of next month to become the superintendent at the Singapore American School. He said he accepted the position because as an American educator who is always speaking about preparing students for a more globalized society, he needed to gain an international perspective that can’t be achieved stateside.

“I don’t think we have very effective global competence,” he said about the American education system. “We don’t really get it.”

He said for generations, American students have become great at memorizing text, but they don’t always get the meaning. He said they need to create thinkers and learners, not memorizers and “regurgitaters.”

Kimball said this is where technology will come in handy as there is an interactive element to working from a computer or tablet that can’t come from books, which better puts lessons into a real-world context.

“It’s about making meaning with information,” he said.

Although he is leaving, Kimball said he is confident that he is leaving the district in the good hands of Dr. Traci Pierce, who was scheduled to be at the luncheon as well but was out sick. Pierce is currently deputy superintendent of instructional services and will take over the district’s top job on July 1.

Kimball had nothing but praise for her, describing her as talented and bright.

“You will enjoy her,” he assured the crowd.

Next month’s chamber member luncheon will be June 20 and feature Scott Jenkins, vice president of ballpark operations for the Seattle Mariners. He will be discussing sports and sustainability and how the Mariners are recognized as a leader in the greening of professional sports. This will be the last chamber  member luncheon for the summer until September.