Kicking off class meeting festivities, ETA Aurelia Tan hosted SMK Negeri 9 Padang’s first-ever English competition, a spelling bee, on December 10. OSIS (Student Council) organized class meetings after the semester’s final exams, handling spelling bee sign-ups and prizes in the process. Aurelia worked with her counterpart, Ms. Lilla Rama Dona, to compile a list of over 300 possible spelling bee words!

Thirty-three students joined the spelling bee, with a near-even split between grades 10 and 11. Competitors were eager to show off their English spelling skills while keeping their eyes on the prize: snack towers for the first-, second-, and third-place winners! The spelling bee began with a demonstration of spelling bee etiquette; Aurelia challenged the competitors to pronounce each spelled letter in English rather than use Indonesian pronunciation.

Round 1 of the spelling bee began with words such as “call” and “each,” and the difficulty increased after each subsequent round. Round 1 eliminated 10 students, and the competition stayed strong until three students were left in Round 6. The first-place winner won by spelling “correspondence,” and the second- and third-place winners were decided by a quick-fire round spelling “confectionery.” To determine fourth and fifth place, two bonus rounds tested eliminated participants’ ability to correctly spell the words “omniscient” and “counterfeit” in writing.

In the end, everybody felt like a winner when Aurelia handed out USA flag pins and Bazooka bubble gum to close out the spelling bee.

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