By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 1/27/05)

There were five guest teachers at Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax for three weeks this month. But the teachers were hoping to learn as much from the staff and students as the students would learn from them.

The five teachers came from countries in the Balkans — Margareti Mara from Albania, Bedri Hajrizi from Kosovo, Drasko Vucemilovic from Croatia, Selma Suman from Bosnia and Natasa Stanojevic from Montenegro.

They came to Paul VI through the School Connectivity project, supported by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The project links 91 schools in 10 counties that communicate through the project’s secure online discussion forum and personal Web sites designed in one stage of the program. Students and teachers work independently and in groups to discuss internationally who they are and how they can relate by exploring projects involving culture, identity, arts, technology, history and environment.

Many Southeast European schools did not have computers in classrooms before the project. Part of the teacher exchange program was to show the teachers how technology can be used, especially in classes not related to computer science.

While the European teachers shadowed Paul VI teachers and observed how learning takes place, the teachers also took opportunities to teach the Paul VI community about their homelands.

Vucemilovic teaches English and the history of art and architecture in Opatija, Croatia. He was hosted by history teacher Joe Gesker. Vucemilovic had a PowerPoint presentation prepared to teach Gesker’s classes about Croatia’s rich architectural history.

He hopes that the connection between Paul VI and his school will continue after the CRS program has ended. He has talked to students, teachers and parents who are all interested in participating in a student exchange program.

Vucemilovic sees a continued connection as the chance for him and his students to learn more about American literature and values.

"As the world becomes a global village, we can communicate by the Internet, but it is so much better that we can travel here and see each other," he said.

Vucemilovic was inspired by the mission statement posted at Paul VI, especially the moral aspect of it.

"All these things are highly important (responsibility, serving others and morals) in this technological time when we neglect moral issues," he said. "(Morals) make us human."

While the Balkan teachers discovered differences between their schools and Paul VI, they all agreed with Stanojevic, a high school English teacher in Cetinje, Montenegro, that "teachers and students are the same everywhere."

"Our work is most connected with not only teaching, but with the problems that teenagers have all over the world," said Mara, a language and literature teacher in Durres, Albania.

Aside from participating in the academic life of Paul VI, last week the teachers also attended a basketball game and saw the cheerleaders perform. While they were accustomed to boys playing sports, most Balkan schools do not have athletic opportunities for girls.

Another major difference noted was the quality of technology equipment at Paul VI and the way it is used in nearly every subject.

Hajrizi, a math teacher in Mitrovica, Kosovo, found not only computers at Paul VI to be better, but also the laboratories in general. In his school, computers are rarely used outside of computer science classes.

All of the teachers hope to continue to foster a connection with Paul VI after the School Connectivity Project is finished at the end of the school year.

"We don’t have much in common," Suman, an English teacher in Tuzla, Bosnia, said. She hopes that by continuing to communicate, students at her school and at Paul VI can learn more about each other by discussing their differences.

In April, nine teachers from the United States will be chosen to travel to different countries in Southeast Europe.

"We are already welcoming them," Vucemilovic said.