Simi High Teacher, Welsh Colleague Swap Cars, Homes, Schools

He is driving her Ford Mustang. She is motoring around in his British-made Vauxhall Astra.

He and his wife are living in her one-bedroom condominium in Thousand Oaks. She is in their modest three-bedroom bungalow in Caldicot, a small rural town in southern Wales.

Stuart Bryant and Jeanine Hass are using each other’s car, home--and classroom. The two science teachers are participating for a year in the prestigious Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program, which gives educators around the world a chance to swap places and learn.

“Science is science and the periodic table won’t change between California and Wales,” said Hass, who has taught at Simi Valley High School for six years. What matters, she said, “is all the rest and how they approach teaching” in Wales.

The two will take each other’s spots in the classroom once summer vacation ends. The goal is to “have an eye-opening experience,” Hass said, “to be exposed to new ways of doing the same thing and enriching my teaching.”

A week after she left for Wales in late July, Bryant moved into Hass’ condominium.

Recently, in Hass’ living room, Bryant was preparing classroom rules on a laptop computer borrowed from Simi Valley High School, where he will start teaching in early September.

The program will be a way “to experience a different culture, but it won’t be a vacation,” said Bryant, who resembles a boyish surfer, “and hopefully it will promote the understanding between the two schools.”

Neither teacher will have to learn a new language to communicate, but Bryant has wondered if he should post a list of English words he uses that may confound his students.

Petrol in Wales is gas here. A trolley in Wales is a shopping cart in America. Pop there, soda here.

“I’m sure my students will look at me with a blank stare,” he said with a smile.

While taking in the new customs and words, the teachers will focus on understanding the different schooling systems. The two have already had conversations to find out what types of differences to expect.

Hass said it may take her awhile to get used to the scheduling at Bryant’s public school, Caldicot Comprehensives for students 11 to 18 years old. There, students do not attend the same class at the same time each day. Instead they are on a two-week rotating schedule that allows for additional courses.

“He’s trying to explain this thing,” Hass said. “I’m not stupid, but I don’t get the schedule.”

In America, Bryant has learned that teachers can hold students back a grade if they don’t feel they are performing well. In Wales, the main goal is to prepare students for a comprehensive test at the age of 16, used by future employers and colleges to gauge students’ ability.

“Pupils don’t really fail classes in Wales or England,” Bryant said.

Hass has a serious air about her when talking about her exchange program. She said she is amazed that of all the components in this program, the first thing some people ask is whether the person living in her home will have to use her towels and sheets.

That is the least of her worries, she said. What concerns her most is how her new group of students will react to her.

“I don’t consider it a trip or a vacation, but more like moving to take a new job,” she said. “My priorities are the students, and I want to build a rapport comparable to what I have out here. If I don’t get to do a lot of traveling, that’s fine.”