On Sunday, September 23rd, ETA Riley Heist, her counter-part Mr. Rais, and a variety of volunteers (some teachers at SMA 10 and some students in the English department at a local university) made the 40-minute drive to Sanga-Sanga to execute a lesson plan that Riley and Mr. Rais created the week before. When the group arrived, they were greeted by over 100 students (ranging from 1st-6th grade), eager to learn English. Every Sunday, for the past 28 months, students have gathered outside of Borneo’s (the lead director) home to take part in fun, interactive English lessons. The local schools no longer include English in their elementary curriculum so the Sunday meeting time is the only time the students practice their English. Borneo and her team have struggled immensely to find enough volunteer teachers for the ever-growing number of students so when Riley was asked if wanted to get involved, she jumped at the opportunity.

After creating the lesson plan for this past Sunday that involved songs and games, focusing on students learning about colors and favorite foods, the teaching team was excited to begin. The students’ energy and enthusiasm made it easy for the teachers, and everyone left Sunday evening with smiles on their faces. Riley looks forward to continuing to help EDU-RUNNER over the next eight months as she and Borneo develop a curriculum and more lesson plans for the students.

Riley Heist is currently teaching at SMAN 10 Samarinda, East Kalimantan