Bucks County Herald – December 7, 2006

Chatree Sakunbunma from Thailand

Dear Friends,

Good morning. My column about how Upper Bucks public schools teach math sparked several emails…all of them were opposed to the Integrated Math program. As I read them, I thought about Chatree Sakunbunma the headmaster of a senior high school in Krabi Thailand.

Sakunbunma won a Fulbright Administrative Exchange at the United Friends School in Quakertown. Craig Sellers is the headmaster of UFS. Because UFS is emphasizing Asia this year, Sellers suggested a cultural exchange through the Fulbright program. Chatree lived in Quakertown with several families for six weeks during October and November. The Lee Rush and Sellers families hosted Chatree. Sellers leaves for Thailand later this month.

Chatree’s wife, On (pronounced Ann), and his oldest daughter, Ann, lived with us for two weeks. I must say that their English is considerably better than my knowledge of the Thai language.

The Sakunbunmas were a joy. “There’s a real light burning in her eyes,” Sellers told me referring to Ann. She’s only five feet tall but mighty.

Chatree is the head of a school with 1,900 students in grades seven through 12. He administers to 54 teachers where each class size approximates 50. On is a headmistress but in a different school with 600 students in grades one through six.

I asked Chatree and On how Thai schools teach math? I was not surprised by their answer. It is basic, traditional math, not the new system that many American schools have been using since 1989. Children learn to add, subtract, multiply and divide by rote…just as I learned math 60 years ago.

I showed him a New York Times article (Nov. 14), which stated that at a time of increasing globalization, the math skills of our children do not measure up. “American eighth-graders lag far behind those from Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and elsewhere on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, an international test,” the Times reported.

Chatree was not surprised. And he was not surprised that the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is recommending that public schools go back to basics. The Council now recommends that public schools abandon the “Mile wide, inch deep, state standards that force schools to teach dozens of math topics in each grade,” the Times article continued.

The Palisades school district is making changes. This month, parents and students will decide whether children will continue with Integrated Math [the so called new math] or opt for traditional math instead. Palisades is preparing to teach both methods. Pennridge continues with Integrated Math but uses traditional math simultaneously. Quakertown is not sure what to do. A committee of teachers and parents will make recommendations to the school board in February.

But I stray.

Chatree is also an entrepreneur. He owns a 100-acre farm, which produces oil and rubber from palm and rubber trees. He has three employees but hires an outside contractor for harvesting.

Most Thais follow the Buddhist religion although Muslims occupy parts of the south. Rice, fish, vegetables, eggs, and green tea are basic staples. They cook with vegetable oil, not butter. Like most Thais, the Sakunbunmas are slender and shorter than Americans. I didn’t see any fat Thais in their photographs. They were surprised by the size of our people…and the size of the portions which restaurants serve.

Chatree and his family visited museums as they toured New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington. They experienced rowing on the Schuylkill River from a coach’s launch.

We saw the Sakunbunmas at work and at play. The Sakunbunmas thrilled the children at UFS every school day. One Sunday night, they introduced the students and their parents to Loy Krathong Day or the Thai Festival of Lights. In the 12^th lunar month, at full moon, Thais send lotus shaped, flower laden and candle-lit floats called krathongs down the rivers of Thailand at high tide.

Quakertown’s version was at the home of Kathy and Steve Redding. With a giant bond fire in the background, the children launched their homemade krathongs. It was quite a sight.

There were tears at UFS on Chatree’s last day. Every student and teacher wore yellow, the Thai color that honors Thailand’s king. Chatree was overwhelmed. So were the children who so enjoyed Chatree’s radiant smile and good cheer. And they intuitively understood that Chatree was a kind, caring man. All of them hugged Chatree, On and Ann as they bid the Quaker school goodbye.

There are several morals here. But probably the most important one is the exchange of cultures. If you get the chance to host a foreign family, by all means do so. You don’t have to be young or wealthy. We’re over 71. Over the years, we’ve had the benefit of having people from Australia, Japan, Sweden and Wales, and now Thailand live with us. It’s been an educational experience.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith