Students and staff members at Woodrow Wilson Elementary were able to learn about the culture and lifestyles of people who live in Australia firsthand at their own school on Wednesday.
A group of student teachers from Australia visited the school as part of a collaboration with UNC Charlotte’s Office of International Programs.
This was the second year the students and staff members at Woodrow Wilson were able to learn about life in Australia from future educators.
“It’s that whole idea of learning about another culture so students and staff can see how we’re similar and different, but to accept the differences,” said David Fleischmann, principal at Woodrow Wilson. “It just enriches our students’ lives to have the experience of another culture.”
Classes at Woodrow Wilson learned information about Australia prior to the visit, and some students asked the Australian students questions they had prepared.
They asked about the animals, schools, weather, movies, and trees in Australia and even if NASCAR was there.
Fourth-grader Imani Gill asked about their Christmas traditions and learned that they decorate a tree in Australia, but it is really hot during that time of the year.
She said she also learned that the capital of Australia is Canberra, the weather there is hot when it is cold in the U.S. and that they have shark alerts there.
Gill also said she learned that most people live on the coast because it is not as hot as the middle of Australia.
Fourth-grader Carmen Granillo said she asked if any of the Australian students who visited her class had been to the Great Barrier Reef, and only one had.
She said she was surprised to hear that they had a lot of reptiles in Australia.
“I would be scared,” Granillo said.
Both Gill and Granillo said they had already wanted to visit Australia, and hearing about it confirmed that they still want to travel there.
“It seems really exciting,” Gill said.
The Australian students were learning about the differences between American and Australian education.
Larissa Haigh, a student at Griffith University in Australia, said the layout of the school was different in the U.S., and the class sizes here are smaller.
Jennifer Edwards, a student at the University of Canberra, said she found the magnet schools interesting and also was shocked to find out how often American students are tested by the state.
The Australian students also found the questions they received from students here interesting.
“With movies and technology, they think we’re quite behind,” Haigh said.
She and the other Australian students will continue to visit schools in the Charlotte area this week and will also teach at a local school while they are visiting.
They will then write a paper about their experience for credit at their universities.
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