On October 26th, English Club students from SMA 3 became teachers as they taught ETA Nageen Sherani how to cook a delicious Indonesian pumpkin porridge called kolak labu kuning, in preparation for a Halloween event that took place the following night. The cooking was arranged at one of the students’ homes and the lead chef was the student’s mother who kindly instructed everyone in gathering the three main ingredients of the porridge- coconut water, palm sugar and pumpkin- while giving everyone a chance to help throughout the cooking process. The students worked diligently to peel, cut and boil pumpkin pieces as they chattered with excitement about the anticipated Halloween party.

Meanwhile, another group of students took on the responsibility of carving a pumpkin into a Jack-O-Lantern. Some of these students had learned about Halloween through classroom activities Nageen created earlier that week and were eager to recreate the experience outside of the classroom, this time also incorporating Indonesian culture with one of their favorite dishes, kolak labu kuning. It was an exciting time for Nageen to see her students take initiative and make the entire Halloween event both a teaching and learning moment!

Nageen Sherani is currently teaching at SMAN 3 Pangkalpinang, Bangka-Belitung