Anticipation for a Halloween-themed English Club brought the highest amount of students to date. ETA Nathan Danielson explained the history of the holiday from its Celtic roots to All Saint’s Day to the commercial version that many people in the United States celebrate today. Nathan opened the club with the classic short, Donald Duck’s “Trick or Treat,” with Indonesian subtitles. Nathan explained how the cartoon helped to popularize the concept of trick or treat. Students completed word searches, crossword puzzles, and a fill-in-the-blank story with a Halloween theme. Students were awarded candy for completion, but had to say “trick or treat” of course. Last, the students were asked to pull words from a bag and create a sentence or paragraph, as well as a picture to go along with their sentences. Afterward, they presented to the class.

What was most exciting to Nathan was seeing a jump in the number of students, especially new students. English Club offers a great opportunity to step outside of the required curriculum and teach about other topics, such as culture. English Club enables students to have fun within a creative setting and get to know one another and enables Nathan to get to know them informally. Nathan is hoping to continue the success of the club in the future.

Nathan Danielson is currently teaching at SMKN 1 Beringin in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.