IMPRESSIONS OF UNITED STATES

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27739, 17 August 1955, Page 2

IMPRESSIONS OF UNITED STATES

Fulbright Teacher Returns

AMERICAN FRIENDLINESS PRAISED “I feel that the Fulbright teacher exchange scheme is proving an excellent medium for promoting friendship between two countries especially, because when one works and lives in the same place for a definite period you get to know the people,” said Miss Peggy Mottram, of Christchurch, in an interview with “The Press” yesterday. Miss Mottram, who is on the teaching staff of the Belfast School, recently returned after a year’s service at Mount Hebron School, Montclair, New Jersey, She exchanged positions was Miss Ada Beatty, whom she met in San Francisco on her journey home.

There are about 800 pupils at the Mount Hebron School, and the classes are small. Miss Mottram had 22 boys and girls in her class, which was grade 111, the equivalent of the first standard in New Zealand. “The children treated me as their friend,” Miss Mottram said. “They were intelligent and had a lot of initiative, which is fostered by the system of education, and which I feel is necessary because of the American way of life.” Miss Mottram said that, socially, the American children were more advanced for their age than New Zealand children. For example, ballroom dancing was taught to pupils in grade V. All the girls wore pretty frocks to school. The older ones wore stiffened petticoats, lacquered their fingernails, and made up their faces. The boys, however, were not so “fashion-conscious." and tended to wear jeans and gaily-coloured shirts. Parents’ Support for School The Montclair district was well-to-do, and most of the parents worked at their professions in New York, said Miss Mottram. They were most cooperative and supported the school’s activities. They were interested in education, and in what was being taught, and why. Valuable assistance was also given by the mothers in helping to arrange concerts, parties, and trips for the children. “One of the nicest features was that the parents were never too busy to write a friendly note to the teacher, thanking her for an act of kindness or any help given to their children,” Miss Mottram said.

Keen interest in New Zealand was aroused at the school through a play written by Miss Mottram and presented at the school’s annual spring festival last April. The - children worked on the designs for the programme, made the costumes, built the scenery, and learned Maori songs, stick games, and hakas. During her long vacation, and after she had completed her term at Montclair, Miss Mottram travelled extensively. She said she v as full of admiration for American women. They retained their youth well and had many activities outside their homes. They did not seem to let thfcir families or their homes become a burden. Most of the homes in Montclair were large and had many labour-saving devices. As a visitor, one would be invited to a screening of films or coloured slides and have dessert, which often comnrised apple pie and ice cream and coffee or cookies. Cooking was not drirksome duty, because of th** amazing '•ariety of cake, pie, and biscuit mixes ♦hat were on sale. Most o'* the meals could be bought prenared for the oven and packed in tinfoil containers. Smartly-cut Clothes American clothes were smartly cut, and the prices depended on the shop where they were bought, said Miss Mottram. A simple frock was often made more attractive -by the choice of accessories and jewellery in endless varietv. Tweeds and fine woollens from Britain ” ere widely worn. Miss Mottram met Miss Nola Luxford at a house party in Montclair, and again in New York, where she attended an Anzac service, which Miss had arranged. "One of the lasting impressions of my visit to America is the friendliness and kindness >f the people.” said Miss Mottraip. “They have a genius for friendship. Tn the many hotels whore T stayed and also in the restau-i rants, the service was pleasantly and willingly given. It made you feel that they were making a career out of it.”