On February 21, 2020, ETA Maria Isabel “Isa” Nieves Bosch hosted the WORDS local competition in her school SMKN 7 Surakarta. She was grateful for all the support her co-teachers gave her, during the recruiting process, and to the students.
Her co-teacher, Pak Joko, gathered A3 notebooks and many packets of colored pencils and markers for students to create their storybooks. He did not want the students to feel discouraged by lacking the proper resources to make a decent book. Meanwhile, Isa met with students to review their original stories and to help prepare their performances. “If you get nervous, breath in, breath out, and continue.”
On the day of the competition, five students bravely stood up in front of the judges and shared their stories. They were all extremely nervous. The first student to compete performed while her hands trembled! The last student immersed herself in the story so much that she sang an improvised song at the end with tears on her face. Everyone was very surprised by the range of talent these few students showed that day. Moreover, Isa was moved by the way contestants stepped up to the challenge and the amount of support they gave each other.
Maria Isabel “Isa” Nieves is currently teaching at SMKN 7 Surakarta, Central Java.
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