After an hour commute we made it to Marymount International School and our orientation consisted of the warning, "they touch a lot and talk a lot". Which I found to be somewhat true. The school is about 85% Italian and their culture consists of a lot more contact. The school has 50 different nationalities but most of the kids in my class were either half italian or full blooded. The school was founded by the Sacred Heart of Mary. None of the buildings were originally meant to be classrooms except for the high school and middle school portion. My classroom used to be a bedroom when it was a boarding school so they're all a odd shaped for your average classroom.
We took a tour of the campus and the cafeteria is amazing. I had a 4 course lunch including a pasta dish, a meat dish, a salad, and dessert. There's also a bar (cafe) in the cafeteria which sells cappuccinos, panino's (sandwiches), and an assortment of other food.
I was introduced to Mrs. O'Connor's class and the children all cheered. I took a seat and listened as the teacher explained a book they were about to read about sunflowers. They read the book and later on in the class we planted sunflower seeds and painted a tall flower and each student painted leaves and petals which we taped on. The kids also had snack twice a day, recess twice a day, and said a prayer twice a day. They also sing songs all throughout the day. One of which was called Rainbow, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. There were hand motions such as making a rainbow and stirring the melting pot of the world. The chorus was "The world is a rainbow!" Which couldn't be more true after seeing all the diversity in this school compared to what I'm used to. I got the chance to ask a lot of them where they're from and it ranges from Finland, Australia, and parts of Africa.
It was definitely a challenge first understanding each child's name but more importantly what they were saying. Every single one of them speaks Italian, either fluently or they are learning. They are supposed to use English in school but as these are Kindergartners they are just starting to learn the language. They were able to understand what I was asking but answered in Italian a lot.
Marymount is an expensive private catholic school. Some of the parents of these kids are professional soccer players, the owner of Colgate toothpaste, the CEO of Fendi, the creator of BVLGARI, an Ethiopian King's daughter, and tons of Diplomat's children. This is such a different environment than what I'm used to working with in Harrisonburg or Waynesboro. I student taught once a week this past semester in a Title I school in Waynesboro. The students differ economically, but I've discovered they are both needy in different ways. Both groups of children need attention and patience from their teacher as well as an education geared towards their needs. I believe that is something I will take away from this experience; that no matter the background of a child each needs something different from the teacher. Knowing where a child comes from, both economically and culturally, can help you shape a classroom into the best environment possible for growth.
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