Throughout the month of January, ETA Jackson Harris facilitated a series of WORDS Competition Workshops at SMKN 1 Kokap to prepare students for the school’s local WORDS Competition, scheduled for the first week of February 2026. The workshops guided students through each stage of the story creation process, emphasizing both English language development and creative expression. Students began by brainstorming story ideas and drafting narratives in Indonesian before collaborating with Jackson to translate their stories into English.

During the workshops, Jackson focused on helping students strengthen vocabulary, sentence structure, and narrative flow while encouraging them to preserve the original meaning and cultural context of their stories. This bilingual process allowed students to interpret the theme of “Community” independently and engage deeply with English as a tool for communication rather than memorization. As the month progressed, students began sketching and designing illustrations for their storybooks, integrating visual storytelling with written language.

The WORDS workshops created an inclusive and supportive environment where students felt confident sharing ideas and experimenting with English. Through this sustained engagement, Jackson supported the Fulbright ETA program’s goals of promoting English proficiency, fostering creativity, and encouraging cross-cultural understanding. The workshops also strengthened collaboration between students and teachers while building excitement for the upcoming local WORDS Competition and the national WORDS Competition in Jakarta.

Jackson Harris is currently teaching at SMKN 1 Kokap, Yogyakarta.