This month ETA Darby Jones had the honor of assisting at a “King of Words” and spelling bee at her site in Sangatta Utara. After connecting with a local English educator during an International Education Week event last semester, Darby was invited to be a pronouncer and presenter at the event for elementary and middle school students in the area.

While the judges did rounds of reviews of the King of Words submissions, Darby presented on herself, American school culture, and the AMINEF program and scholarships for Indonesian students to the participants and their families.

These short presentations were great opportunities for Darby to practice using her Indonesian as she switched back and forth between English and Indonesian for the students and their parents.

For the spelling bee portion, Darby had previously reviewed the list of words, definitions, and example sentences. During the competition, she pronounced the words for contestants and read example sentences. Her favorite part of the whole event was getting to connect with SD students, an age group she loves and hopes to work with when she returns to the US.

Darby Jones is currently teaching at SMAN 2 Sangatta Utara, East Kalimantan