By Tiffany Allison
Hardin Park School added a new face to its staff,
though temporarily, as part of the Fulbright Administrator
exchange program.
From left, Hardin Park
Elementary School principal Mary Smalling sits with
her South American counterpart, Miriram Presti, second
director of the Gregoria Perez de Denis No. 136 from
Sante Fe, Argentina. Photo
by Mark Mitchell |
Miriram Presti, the second director of the
Gregoria Perez de Denis No. 136 from Sante Fe, Argentina,
was invited to stay with Principal Mary Smalling and observe
the school system for three weeks. Her last day in the states
was Saturday, Nov. 8.
The Fulbright exchange program finds two educators from
different countries and sends them to each other’s
school for a certain period of time to observe and implement
positive qualities into their education system. Smalling
will be leaving June of next year to stay with Presti and
observe the education system of Argentina.
“In a lot of ways, the two systems are similar in the
content of what’s taught and in the will to work and
what they are doing and the value of humanity,” Presti
said. “The main differences are the amount of resources
that are available and also the size.”
She explained that Argentinian schools have less faculty
and staff than Hardin Park, and they do not have teaching
assistants.
“In a way, the teachers in Argentina … are valued
because they have to do everything themselves because they
don’t have the same level of help,” she said.
“One thing I’ve noticed here is that here they
have someone to help out with students with disabilities.”
Presti wishes to implement some of Hardin Park’s traits:
the use of technology, integration of students with different
needs into the classroom, and the integration of parents’
involvement within the classroom. These are qualities Presti
feels would help the learning process within her school.
“Parents are really active within our building,”
Smalling said. “We have parents come in and do a morning
reading program for children who get here early, we have
parents who do duty-free lunch, we have very active parents,
PTA members, who actively volunteer, and we have parents
who work in the classroom helping teachers get materials
ready for class.”
The students jumped on board with the idea of exchange.
The fourth grade students sent letters home with Presti
to give to her students to explain their culture.
“This is something that I have really wanted to do.
It is good for the students, language-wise, and to experience
in some way a different culture,” Presti said. “It
is good for the students to see that in a lot of ways they
are not so different that even though they come from a different
country they have a lot of common interests.”
She said the same is true with teachers, in that even though
they may speak a different language and have limited amount
of resources, what they do day to day is the same: teaching
and helping students.
“That is one thing that I’ve noticed in both places,
that the teachers have passion for teaching and loving what
we do,” Presti said. “It’s more than a profession;
it’s part of who you are.”
Before arriving in Boone, Presti and Smalling contacted
each other through e-mails and chat rooms. During her visit,
Presti kept in contact with her family. The Smalling family
was able to meet the Presti family via chat room.
They discovered through conversation that they had more
similarities than they originally thought. They both have
three children near the same age, and they have similar
careers. However, when it comes to living situations, they
are vastly different. Presti lives in the city and, of course,
Smalling lives in the country.
While Presti stayed in Boone, she was able to enjoy the
scenery. She made homemade butter and apple cider, hiked
along mountain trails and went horseback riding.
“She will try anything,” Smalling said.
The language barrier was one of obstacles that both women
had to overcome.
“Even though I don’t understand English very well,
there is a lot that you can tell from gestures and human
interaction, so you can kind of see what’s going on
through body language,” Presti said.
“We wing it between my little bit of Spanish and her
little bit of English, and my husband has more Spanish than
I do, so we survived,” Smalling said. “You have
to have a lot of patience, and both of us had a lot of patience.”
Presti was impressed with the welcome she received from
Boone’s community, thanking those who came together
to help create a memorable experience for her visit.
“It’s the first and most important thing that
I am going to remember,” she said. “It’s
almost like a fairy tale. I was eating breakfast this morning,
and I saw a deer and a little squirrel. It’s very idealistic.”
Presti not only observed the teachers and students within
Hardin Park’s classrooms, but also Bethel and Watauga
High schools, as well. Smalling explained that she thought
it was important for Presti to see more than just one school
building in Boone to grasp the differences between each
school.
“I think that this kind of exchange really fulfills
the Fulbright mission, which is bringing cultural understanding,”
Presti said, “which is what all teachers are working
towards, and bringing cultural understanding and …
peace, in general, to the world.”
Presti said she was thankful for the hospitality of the
community and of the Smalling family for making her stay
a wonderful experience. This was the longest she has departed
from her family, and Presti said she felt very comfortable.
Smalling is excited to depart for her trip to Argentina
and hopes to bring back new perspectives to the states.
One of the most important lessons she has learned is the
importance of communication.
“I think we need to keep communicating and inviting
people and not letting the language barrier be an anxiety
for people,” she said. “If you try to communicate
in times of peace when things are good, I think it really
helps when times get tense or complicated. I would just
encourage everyone to open their doors up and think about
that when they run across a situation when they cannot understand
somebody. It’s important to keep communicating.”
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