Schoolchildren from Katon-Karagai become english-speaking volunteers at international festival

During the festival “Altai: the golden cradle of the Turkic world,” 13 students of the S. Lastayev school in Katon-Karagai district, East Kazakhstan region, helped foreign guests find their way around the event venues and get to know the festival program. Together with their English teacher, Michael Secarro Napal, the students talked with tourists in English, answered questions, and helped them find the places they needed. So that guests could easily recognize the volunteers, the students wore T-shirts with the words “I speak English.” For the festival’s foreign participants, the initiative was useful support, and for the rural students it was a chance to use their English in practice, overcome the language barrier, and gain experience of international communication. Michael Secarro Napal is an English teacher with more than ten years of experience. He previously taught in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, and also taught students from Japan and China remotely. Today, at the S. Lastayev school, he not only teaches English lessons but also prepares senior students for the IELTS and TOEFL international exams, leads STEM classes, and organizes debates and theater productions. The teacher works in Katon-Karagai District as part of the project “English for rural children,” implemented by the Fund for sustainable development of education (FURO). “The students become ambassadors of their village, and this program opens up new opportunities for young people and strengthens the welcoming spirit of Katon-Karagai,” said Michael Secarro Napal. The students’ participation in the festival is an example of how learning a foreign language goes beyond the classroom and helps rural children build confidence, communication skills, and openness to the world.