GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally Speaking

Welcome to all of the new teachers, students and administrators who

have joined our school district for the first time. I’m sure some parents

are breathing a sigh of relief that their bored kids will have something

to do, while others are working out the balancing act of getting their

kids to and fro, as school and fall activities start up again.

We just got back from a vacation in the eastern part of the United

States and Canada. Our first stop was Dartmouth, the Ivy League school in

Vermont. They have the most uncomfortable chairs in the college library.

Maybe we should try that technique in our school libraries.

Although we visited the province of Quebec, we met Canadians from most

of the provinces. They assured us that their school system was far

superior to our own. After spending a week in a place where the primary

language spoken was not my own, it was an eye-opener as to how our

non-English speaking students must feel. However, almost everyone there

also spoke some English, and would switch once they realized what dunces

we were. In fact, in Canada, students in high school and college can

apply to go to language schools for six weeks during the summer. Because

Canada has two recognized languages, students learn the one they are not

familiar with over the summer.

These courses are held at the nation’s universities. Applicants that

are accepted receive a full scholarship, which includes transportation,

tuition, and room and board.

Wouldn’t that be a great idea to adopt in California? Immersing a

student in a second language would help in the fields of teaching,

medicine, international business, tourism, and manufacturing. It would

give students the opportunity to experience life at college during their

high school years.

It would bring students from urban and rural communities together, as

well as students from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. If

college units were given for the intensive coursework, it would ensure

more students graduated from college within a four-year time frame.

Newport-Mesa has been scrambling to hire enough teachers. We have been

missing a great spot to recruit teachers. We need to send a videotape of

our balmy weather and sun-kissed beaches to teachers in Canada when the

temperature hits 40 degrees below freezing. Teachers in Canada work more

days per year for much lower pay after twice as much teacher training.

Many of the school facilities looked as old and decrepit as those in our

district.

Finally, if you are looking for adventure, our family has two

suggestions. The first is to raft or jet boat on the St. Lawrence River

outside of Montreal. You can pretend you are an actor in the Perfect

Storm movie as you and the boat get covered with water from the waves.

Second, visit an Amerindian cultural site in Canada. We went to the one

that is thirty minutes from Quebec City. There, you stay in native

housing: either a teepee, tent or hogan. We ate caribou pie, soup with

wild geese, venison, and native vegetables, blueberry dessert with maple

syrup and medicinal tea.

We checked out the smoke house, the sweat log and the isolation huts.

We made a dream catcher and purified it over sage smoke. We made music

with native flute and drum, and buried our food offering in a birch

canoe. We weren’t there long enough for a vision quest, but that can also

be arranged. If you want to really get the feel of what Native American

life was like, this does it better than any book or museum. Just don’t

think about Bambi during dinner.

GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs

Tuesdays. She can be reached by e-mail at GGSesq@aol.com.