Yakob Palino is an English teacher at SMP Negeri 3 Sa’dan Satap, Toraja Utara, South Sulawesi. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in English Education at Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana in 2004.  He has been teaching English since 2004. Prior to teaching at his current institution, he was teaching at SMA Kristen Barana, a private school in Makassar. He was appointed as a civil servant in 2008 and the local government of South Sulawesi Province transferred him to teach at North Toraja due to the lack of English teachers in the region and he has been teaching there since then. He has participated in several trainings in Education sponsored by the local government. He also participated in teachers’s competition and showed positive attitude toward the program. His motivation to apply for the ILEP is to gain advanced skills in teaching, leadership, communication and technology to support his career as a professional teacher. He wants to apply the knowledge he gains from the program to increase the quality of his teaching methods, which affects his students’ motivation to learn the language, and the quality of education of his school and in Toraja Utara in general.

Yakob is placed at Arizona State University. Upon the completion of the program, he intends to share his experience to the teachers’ forum (MGMP) so teachers from other schools will also benefit from his experience through discussion and workshops on advanced teaching skills.