Thais that bind
PUTNEY -- Over the past few days, Somjai Promsaree has been going around the Putney Central School saying goodbye to students.
Since the school year started in the fall, Promsaree, who is a visiting teacher from Thailand, has worked with just about every class in the school, so she has had a lot of goodbyes to deliver before she returns home.
She has been in Putney, officially, to work with grades K through 5, but during the past semester she has also done work in the middle school and led a handful of schoolwide assemblies celebrating Thai culture.
Putney Central is one of 14 schools that hosted an Asian teacher this year as part of the University of Vermont's Asian Studies Outreach Program, a program that helps schools in the state connect with teachers in China, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
This is the 10th year that Putney Central has hosted a teacher and Putney Central is one of the longest running participants in the program.
Asian Studies Outreach Program Director Holden Waterman said Putney Central has been so successful because the administration there has been able to integrate their Asian visitors throughout the school.
"Putney's ability to institutionalize the program is unique," Waterman said. "This program gives teachers and school districts the opportunity to take advantage of visiting scholars and build that into the curriculum. Putney has really been able to do that."
Promsaree teaches at a private girls high school in Bangkok.
She is living with Putney Central elementary school teacher Angela Walton.
Promsaree said that while there are differences in the cultures of the schools, she has also noticed similarities.
"American and Thai teachers are devoted and they love their kids," she said. "And they work late when they have to."
Putney Central also offers Chinese language and highlights Asian culture in its art and music departments.
Walton said hosting the teachers all these years has developed independently of the other Asian programs, though the school has built a reputation as a place where knowledge and respect of Asian culture is strong.
"We don't have a lot of diversity in Vermont," said Walton. "When we have a teacher here from Japan or Thailand or China, it gives the kids something real to think about, and the country becomes something more than a purple dot on a map."
Promsaree's experience in Putney started a little rocky, when the cold fall weather got her sick and she was wondering if she would be able to stay through the semester.
She got well, and in the end, said her time in Putney was worth it.
She even got to see a major snowstorm this week and sent photos back to her family and friends in Thailand.
"Everyone here is happy. It is like Thailand," she said. "When I walk to the co-op, people slow down and wave. I have felt like this is home."
As Putney has built up the Asian teacher hosting program, Walton said the families and children have grown to expect it every year.
After 10 years, it has become a part of the culture at Putney Central, far beyond even the other Asian study programs that the school offers.
"I saw from the beginning what a wonderful impact this has on the kids here," Walton said. "It makes everyone at the school think beyond our own little world here."
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reform-er.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279.
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