Teacher trap: Educators trading places

Students at a high school in Plzen, Czech Republic, might as well start working on their school spirit now. That concept — peculiar to American high school life — is one of the customs their teacher, Lenka Sluneckova, plans to bring home with her when she returns from a yearlong teacher exchange in Lake Havasu City.

Sluneckova, 30, has traded places with Lake Havasu High School freshman English teacher Ginny Saunter through the Fulbright teacher exchange program. While Sluneckova is here, Saunter is teaching her classes in Plzen. They’re also living in each other’s homes, driving each other’s cars and getting to know each other’s friends and family, Sluneckova said.

High school culture is one of the biggest differences Sluneckova has experienced at LHHS.

“The (Czech) students respect the teachers more, which means they just sit there and are silent while the teacher talks,” Sluneckova said.

She’s found LHHS students are more involved in the classroom and generally more open and friendly. They’re “independent beings,” responsible for their own learning.

“I like it more (here), to be honest,” Sluneckova said.

The still-rigid European education system concentrates so much on imparting information, it neglects to develop the whole person, Sluneckova said. That means Czech high school kids aren’t as outgoing or self-confident.

“What they learn at the high school is to obey the teacher and that’s it,” Sluneckova said. “Here you try not only to educate the kids, you try to form their personality.”

Back in the Czech Republic, Sautner has had to deal with students who aren’t as willing to speak up and participate in class as she’s used to, Sluneckova said. The flip side is she also hasn’t had to deal with the discipline problems, parents and piles of paperwork that are a part of Sluneckova’s life at an American high school.

“It took me some time to realize the kids can lie to you and they can steal from you,” she said.

Sluneckova and her husband, Philip Slunecko, arrived in Lake Havasu City in August, when the average daytime temperature was well above 100 degrees.

“At first we can’t understand how people could live in such a hot place. And it’s not just the heat, it’s the light,” Sluneckova said. “Now, it’s wonderful. This is like August in the Czech Republic.”

Slunecko was a computer specialist in the Czech Republic, but he doesn’t have the proper papers to work in the United States.

“He’s actually my housewife,” Sluneckova said. “He takes it really serious.”

The couple traveled to Monument Valley and other sites around Arizona during the school’s fall break. They plan a trip to California for Christmas.

“It’s very exotic and attractive to us to spend Christmas without snow,” she said.

Sluneckova has been writing a blog, in Czech, about her experiences for her students back in Plzen. She said they’ve loved hearing about life at an American high school and customs like decorating classroom doors, dressing up school colors, powder-puff football and homecoming. Sluneckova plans to put some of those school spirit traditions into practice back home.

“The ideas are so simple. It doesn’t take much time or cost very much ... It doesn’t take away from learning,” she said.

You may contact the reporter at dparker@havasunews.com.