Teacher Exchange Leads to Student Exchange
During the 1996-97 school year, West Laurens High School history teacher Dorothy Connor exchanged places with Estonian history teacher Katrin Pever. The exchange was a part of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program which was developed under the sponsorship of Senator William Fulbright to encourage cultural exchanges to further international understanding. For the school year, Katrin Pever, her husband Mehis and two children, Christjan and Mari, lived in the Connor home and became a part of the WLHS and Laurens County communities. Dorothy Connor and Clay, her husband, lived in an apartment in Mustamae, a suburb of Tallinn, and taught history and art at Tallinna Reaalkool, Secondary Science School of Tallinn.
Challenges for both families included coping with a foreign language, a new culture, everyday problems such as banking and grocery shopping, and teaching in a school system organized around different curriculums and traditions. In Georgia, Christjan joined the boy scouts and he and Mari attended Southwest Laurens Elementary. Mehis substituted at West Laurens and the whole family learned about Walmart, how cotton and peanuts are picked and that Dublin gets hot, hot, and hot. The climate was a tremendous difference as Estonia is so far north that winters are long, days short, and sunshine in short supply. Estonia also does not have tornados or severe electrical storms. For the Connor’s, the first big snow of more than two feet was a new experience, as were the extremely short days when night came at 3:30 PM. For the first time since they were teens, they depended on public transportation rather than a car. Other than the language, the most difficult part of adjusting was coping with banking and the post office. For both, the exchange meant changing from rural to urban lifestyles or vice versa.
Both families traveled in their new country. The Connors visited many areas of Estonia and visited Krakow, Budapest, Prague and Vienna. The Pevers thought Cumberland Island was a very beautiful part of Georgia and they were able to visit most parts of Georgia and some parts of Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina. The two families were able to spend time on Cumberland and in Smoky Mountain National Park together before the Pevers returned to Estonia.
For both, the best part of the Exchange was the friendships made and the knowledge of the new culture that would remain after the exchange was over. For both teachers, the experience was positive and the result was a student exchange program established by Dorothy Connor through the USIA for Laurens County Schools.
So far four of Mrs. Connor’s Estonian students from Tallinna Reaalkool have participated in the program 1997 fall semester. Fall semester of 1998, two students attended West Laurens, and this spring Martin Arula, an eleventh grade student, is being hosted by Rod Garrett. Student hosts, April Canady, Trae Kemp, and Ashley Roosevear will visit their exchange partners, Rya Ero, Taavi Einaste, and Kirke Riisma in Estonia during the summer of 1999. They will have a chance to meet their partner's families, learn more about Estonia, and enjoy traveling with their Estonian friends.
A partnership has been formed with a second school in Gerardmer, France. Three French students have been hosted by West Laurens students since 1997. Next year student from Tallinna Reaalkool and from Lycee de la Haie Griselle will join students at West Laurens in encouraging interrnational understanding among high school students.
Partner Schools
Lycee de la Haie Griselle, Gerardmer, France
Robert Papelier
Sylvain Voiry
Tallina Reaalkool, Estonia
Tallinna Reaalkool visits West Laurens
Activities
Bridges
Cumberland Island
Graduation at Tallinna Reaalkool
