On Monday, January 20, 2020, ETA Joseph “Joe” Janik Miller led an English learning lesson about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Joe first exclaimed that it was a holiday in the US, and then explained to the class that American high schools were never in session on the third Monday of January.

On Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Padangsidimpuan, students at National High School 1 celebrated Dr. King’s life and work in the classroom.

The goal of the lesson was for students to produce a text in the past tense. Joe first modeled the goal by writing an excerpt of Dr. King’s speech on the board. He wrote: “In August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. said, ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.'” After identifying the past tense verb in the sentence, one student translated the meaning of the quote. Students understand the meaning but were confused about the context.

Joe explained that when Dr. King was alive, black children and white children could not go to school together in the US. He explained that segregation was no longer legal and recounted his lessons about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement in school. Joe also noted that despite Dr. King’s fame today, he was opposed by many when he was alive, but his contributions have stood the test of time.

Joseph “Joe” Janik Miller is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Padangsidimpuan, North Sumatra.