School for SHAPE

Military men in the uniforms of half a dozen different nations mingled with proud mothers and officials of France's Ministry of Education one day last week on the lawn of the old chateau of St. Germain-en-Laye, twelve miles northwest of Paris. A French military band finished the slow beat of Swanee River and swung into the lilting rhythm of Marching Through Georgia. It was the first "Commencement Day" for the international school set up this year for the children of SHAPE Village.

SHAPE'S rank-happy kids had hoped for Supreme Commander Matt Ridgway at their end-of-the-term prize-giving. At the last minute, important NATO business kept him away. Four-star General Gruenther couldn't make it either. But Mrs. Gruenther came, and SHAPE'S U.S. liaison officer, bemedaled Anthony J. Drexel Biddle Jr., a brigadier general, made the awards.

For Harmony. Despite the lack of SHAPE'S shiniest brass, the ceremony was a tribute to the foresight of SHAPE'S first commander. The school got its start under General Eisenhower, who hoped it would help SHAPE'S multi-nation families to live and work together in harmony. Last January, when the first term began in a reconverted farmhouse, there were 28 boys & girls on the rolls. Now there are 148 students--Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Canadian, Dutch, French, British and American--ranging from four-year-olds to teenagers. When the school opens next fall, Headmaster Rene Tallard, who is also senior English teacher at the boys' high school in St. Germain, expects the enrollment to jump to 350.

The school's classes are conducted in French, and there are basic French courses for children who still have trouble with the language. In an ordinary week a twelve-year-old American boy works for 25 hours on general subjects, e.g., arithmetic, French grammar, geography, history, spelling, elementary science. For another six hours a week, the wife of an American major teaches him English grammar, spelling, American geography and history. Other national groups study the geography, history and grammar of their own countries.

Ike's demand that SHAPE officers and men of all nationalities get along without friction is reflected in the kids' behavior at school. One English boy admitted that he was fed up walloping English kids. He wished he could bash a couple of Yanks but he didn't want to get his father into trouble. On the whole, says Headmaster Tallard, the Dutch and British pupils are the best behaved, the French and Americans the quickest at learning.

For the Winner. Addressing the SHAPE pupils last week, General Biddle read his commencement address in fluent French. Then, "for those French people who could not understand my French," he grinned, "I will now repeat it in English."

When the awards were handed out, the loudest applause was earned by the winner of Matt Ridgway's special prize (an atlas, a book about Paris and a book about trains) for the student who distinguished himself for the "best international spirit in his relationship with his comrades." The winner: twelve-year-old Michael MacKinnon, son of a wing commander in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

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