Wetton said he had wanted to come to the

Wetton said he had wanted to come to the U.S. for a long time. The exchange program was the best way for him to make the trip. “I’ll not only gain a greater understanding of U.S. culture, but there will also be an interchange of ideas about teaching,” he said.

Industrial arts classes in England are called, craft design and technology. Wetton said that the main difference in the American and English classes is that English students are taught to do everything by hand. “Machines are an integral part of the curriculum here where students are trained more for work in a factory after school,” he said. “In English schools, students are trained to work on their own without the need for expensive machinery.”

Wetton has also noticed that there is more testing in American schools and more emphasis on paperwork and recorded grades. “Parents would accept a teacher’s word about thier child’s work in England instead of having to have the paperwork to show them every grade written in a book,” he said. “Teachers have more freedom in grading, but things are moving towards more paperwork in England, too."

Wetton and Currie will each have to learn the differences in curriculum during the year. “I’ll be teaching the way Scott would be, and he’ll be teaching the way I would,” Wetton said. “My teaching methods shouldn’t be too different if the kids aren’t too different, and Scott said they are pleasant kids.”

Besides switching positions, Wetton and Currie have exchanged cars and houses. Wetton has the Curries’ two cats and their garden, too.

“I’ve never done very much gardening because there isn’t enough land in an urban area to grow very much, but they left me all of the instructions on what to do for everything,” the Englishman said.

Wetton’s classes at Heathfield broke at the end of July, so he will have a short vacation this year. He plans to use the week before classes start

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