Page 13 - 實中園地 第廿八卷第一期

The Newsletter of NEHS 112年第 28卷第 1期 實中園地

Taking STEPs on the Path of Education

2023 Student Teaching English Program Winter Camp

Melody Chui (STEP Club President, Class of 2024)

Student Teaching English Program is a club at International Bilingual School in Hsinchu Science Park,
dedicated to teaching local students English by hosting volunteering services and organizing fun camps in
various elementary schools. We hope all Taiwanese children can have the chance to become global citizens
and become adept in more than one language. By attending our services and camps, members can have fun
interacting with students from different parts of Taiwan, as some of these camps are collaborative efforts with
other schools. Through our members’ experiences in our activities, we learn how to improve as both students
and teachers while becoming leaders
This year our club had the luxury of entertaining 60 members, led by Melody Chui, Michelle Lee, Henry
Chen, and Evan Hsu. The scheduling for this year’s Winter Camp and our other events began long before the
semester started to provide the members with enough opportunities to volunteer to help the children. From
lesson plans, to meals, to shower schedules, everything had to be planned out long before we even finalized
the locations that we were going to teach at.
After being quarantined for several years due to Covid, in 2023, STEP was finally presented the
opportunity to travel to 彰化 and teach at 彰化縣埔心鄉鳳霞國民小學 for 3 half days from February 6th to
February 8th. From the start of the year up until the day before the trip, the members dedicated their time and
effort to crafting lesson plans and attending numerous meetings to prepare for such an event. Even being able
to participate was not an easy task, as there were many eager participants and a limited number of spots open.
Hence, they all competed in a friendly competition to determine which of them was most suited in teaching,
adapting, and organizing.
We would like to thank the wonderful officers and hardworking members for making this Winter
Camp the best one yet; especially as most of our members were first time attendees. we could not be more
impressed with their dedication and work. Surprisingly, we had quite a diverse pool of participants ranging
from seventh to twelfth grade, featuring: Benny Huang (12), Daisy Lee (11), Wei Hsi Mar (11), Ashley
Van (10), Sophie Wang (10), Ella Gui (10), Bruno Pieper (10), Roney Lee (10), Michelle Du (9), Sinead
McKenna (9), Sophie Chiang (9), and Tara Tsai (7). We would like to give a huge thanks to each and every
one of them for maintaining such a positive attitude throughout the months of preparation, despite having to
overcome multiple obstacles.
This year’s camp theme was General Education, as we weren’t quite sure whether students in the rural
area had ever been exposed to English in their lives. Despite the short time we had to teach the 40 kids, we
were able to fit over 8 lessons, in addition to a school-wide scavenger hunt, known to us as 大地遊戲 . Our
lessons included teaching them basics like Introductions and Greetings. We also had other general lessons
such as Sports, Animals, Food, and Farming. Additionally, we also had a lesson about the environment, to
spread awareness of current global warming issues. To top it all off, we even held a short experiment in
which students were able to craft their own vinegar and baking soda volcanoes from scratch. Moreover, from
this experiment, we really saw the cooperation amongst our teachers and the students. The tension amongst
the students quickly dissipated as they lit up from doing such a fun project alongside learning some basic
vocabulary that really stuck with them.
on the outside, it may appear as though we are just a serious teaching club. However, if you take a
closer look at our values in hosting such events, you will see that one of our priorities is member bonding. At
the beginning, we may have been a group of people who you would have never thought would be associated
with one another,but at the end, we were an inseparable bunch, with many memories that we will hold onto
forever. It was truly a delightful experience to advance from strangers with awkward encounters to strong
everlasting friendships.

Taking STEPs on the Path of Education 13