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Fulbright Teaching Exchange - America
During the autumn term I took part in a teacher exchange to Pennsylvania in the USA. I stayed in a small, affluent town called Nazareth, which was about an hour and a half from New York. I taught photography to 10th-12th graders for six weeks in Nazareth Area High School. My preparations leading up to the exchange were extensive and took the best part of a year. I had to go through an initial application process where I had to be matched to a teacher in the US, I had to apply for a working visa and go through rigorous health checks, and the paper work was endless. I was finally linked with Miss Stager, my exchange partner, and we liaised extensively leading up to and throughout the exchange period.
My first day at Nazareth Area High School was very different from Brixham. The students didn't wear uniform, my largest class consisted of fifteen students, and the school itself just seemed vast. It took me a week to find the staff room and not get lost. Tutor groups didn't exist, all notices were announced on the intercom during first block class, after which the students stood up and announced their allegiance to the large American flag on my desk! School started at 7.30am and finished at 2.40pm, which took some adjusting to. The students were generally very well behaved and I didn't come across any discipline issues; in fact they were very eager to learn. I was teaching the equivalent age to A Level and photography was an elective subject.
Overall I had an interesting and rewarding teaching experience and would thoroughly recommend the programme to others. I was, however, glad to return to Brixham to see my colleagues and students again, and found that the majority of my classes had really enjoyed Miss Stagers input from the States. I am still in contact with Miss Stager and we are discussing ways of continuing links between our schools. I would like to thank everyone for making this unique experience happen. I am very lucky to have had the support and encouragement from everyone at Brixham College to allow this exchange to happen. - Miss Thomas