During the last week of October 2025, ETA Aurelia Tan brought the spooky Halloween spirit to SMK Negeri 9 Padang—along with lots of treats, of course! During English Club on October 27, Aurelia gave a presentation on Halloween traditions while dressed up as a scarecrow. She explained the origins of the holiday, including the traditions of trick-or-treating and carving jack-o’-lanterns, before introducing vocabulary related to iconic Halloween symbols and animals. Students played a Halloween-themed Kahoot to test their latest additions to their lexicon, and everyone went home with American and Indonesian candies.

The afternoon before Halloween, English Club students and OSIS (Student Council) members voluntarily came to school, despite having no classes, to help Aurelia prepare for the school-wide Halloween event. Students majoring in the culinary arts brought Aurelia to the local market to purchase and carve pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns. Students studying hospitality crafted Halloween decorations out of orange and black paper. Altogether, students produced over 40 paper jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts, and spiders!

Thanks to SMKN 9’s English teachers, English Club, and OSIS, members of the school community enjoyed the Halloween festivities hosted inside the EdOtel Bundo Kanduang restaurant. Participants learned about Halloween culture in the US from vampire Aurelia, received Halloween stickers, and tried candies from America. Culinary students prepared iced tea as quiz prizes, and English teacher Ibu Jessy shared kolak, a traditional Indonesian dessert made from leftover pumpkins. Students, teachers, and EdOtel staff joined in on the Halloween fun!

Aurelia Tan is currently teaching at SMKN 9 Padang, West Sumatra.