The month of February was busy at SMAN 1 Demak with students getting ready for the 2020 AMINEF Words Storytelling Competition. The 12 participants met every Tuesday and Thursday during the second break at school with ETA Madison “Maddy” Mele to write their story, make their storybooks and practice their storytelling.

The competition was held on February 28 at SMAN 1 Demak, with ETA judges Kush Mansuria from SMK Raden Umar Said in Kudus and Tessa Sontheimer from SMAN 2 Demak in Demak. The third judge was an English teacher from SMAN 3 Demak, Atya Mahum Hana. The competition began in the afternoon and started with an opening ceremony with teachers from all disciplines in attendance, and a speech by SMAN 1 Demak’s very own, Muhammad Arifandi, the head of student affairs. Each of the 12 participants prepared a story, storybook, and presentation based on a hero. The stories ranged from a monkey saving a forest to a hero in a zombie apocalypse.

The winner of the competition was 11th-grade student Marsha, who wrote about a schoolgirl finding the hero within. The second place was Chevin who wrote about a whale who cleaned up trash from the ocean to save a town, and third place was Dhanu who wrote about a fish who saved a caterpillar. Maddy was very proud of her students and is excited to travel to Jakarta with Marsha in April to compete in the national competition!

Madison “Maddy” Mele is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Demak, Central Java.