Semarang, May 18, 2025 – Pekan Anak Nusantara (PENA) is a work program by the education division of HIMPS FISIP UNDIP, carried out in collaboration with the ASN Mengajar Semarang community. This work program takes the form of direct teaching for children under the guidance of ASN Mengajar Semarang, featuring the theme “Be Confident, Future Radiant: Time to Leap Higher!” The instruction focuses on building self-confidence in public speaking among children and motivating them to dare to dream big. This work program was held on May 18, 2025, at Balai RW XI, Tanjungmas Village, Semarang.

The PENA (Nusantara Children’s Week) activity organized by HIMPS was successfully carried out well, adhering to the designed schedule. Children from the Tanjungmas Village area participated in the activity with high enthusiasm. The entire series of events, from the opening to the closing, ran smoothly without significant obstacles.

The activity was structured, starting with a presentation on public speaking, where participants gained a basic understanding of the importance of speaking in public. This was evident from the participants’ enthusiasm during the practice session. Following the material presentation, the next session was “Show Time!” In this session, participants were able to apply the material they had learned with the mentor’s guidance, demonstrating that the learning was both applicable and effective. Afterward, the teaching activity concluded with a journaling session. The journaling activity was designed and successfully served as a good means of reflection for participants to write down their feelings and experiences during the event. The results from the journaling showed that participants felt happy, motivated, and gained valuable lessons from the activity. The committee also successfully established good cooperation with the ASN Mengajar Semarang community, which provided support for this activity. Overall, the activity achieved its goals as an educational, interactive, and fun platform for the participants, while also strengthening the values of social care and collaboration within the community.

The PENA (Nusantara Children’s Week) activity organized by HIMPS was successfully carried out well, adhering to the designed schedule. Children from the Tanjungmas Village area participated in the activity with high enthusiasm. The entire series of events, from the opening to the closing, ran smoothly without significant obstacles.

The activity was structured, starting with a presentation on public speaking, where participants gained a basic understanding of the importance of speaking in public. This was evident from the participants’ enthusiasm during the practice session. Following the material presentation, the next session was “Show Time!” In this session, participants were able to apply the material they had learned with the mentor’s guidance, demonstrating that the learning was both applicable and effective. Afterward, the teaching activity concluded with a journaling session. The journaling activity was designed and successfully served as a good means of reflection for participants to write down their feelings and experiences during the event. The results from the journaling showed that participants felt happy, motivated, and gained valuable lessons from the activity. The committee also successfully established good cooperation with the ASN Mengajar Semarang community, which provided support for this activity. Overall, the activity achieved its goals as an educational, interactive, and fun platform for the participants, while also strengthening the values of social care and collaboration within the community.

As the speaker, Bintang Amanda, a Communication Science student (Class of 2022) from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Diponegoro University, delivered the material in a communicative and interactive manner aimed at the children in the RW IX area of Tanjungmas Village, Semarang. The presentation was conducted through light explanations, Q&A sessions, and direct practice involving all participants. The presentation began with interactive questions about the simple definition of public speaking, tips and tricks for public speaking, and immediate practice.

Next, the effective public speaking techniques were described in detail. This included preparation such as regulating breathing and building confidence before appearing, controlling the pace of speaking during the presentation, using hand gestures to appear more natural and engaging, and speaking with a clear and loud voice.

Following the explanation of public speaking techniques, the participating children were invited to practice reading a text displayed on the projector by applying the steps that had been previously explained. Additionally, the speaker held an interactive Q&A session with the participants. To boost their spirits and involvement, prizes such as notebooks and snacks were also given out during the session.

The aim of this activity is to serve as a platform and means for university students to directly engage with the community in an effort to educate the nation’s next generation. The general objective of the Pekan Anak Nusantara (PENA) event is to train the systematic thinking skills of the students as organizers, and to develop the communication and analytical abilities of the participating students during the organization process because they directly interact with the community.

This activity also aims to provide enlightenment and enhance children’s ability to dare to appear and speak in public, including encouraging them to dare to dream of their aspirations. The expected output from the successful implementation of this activity is an increase in the systematic thinking, communication, and analytical skills of the involved students, making them more sensitive and caring towards the conditions and problems in the surrounding environment. For the participants, the desired output is that they gain motivation, spirit, and courage to be able to express their opinions well in public and understand the basic principles. This ability is expected to be a starting step and initial foundation for participants to grow into the nation’s golden generation.

Based on the participants’ enthusiasm, their active involvement in the discussion sessions during the public speaking material presentation, as well as the “Show Time!” and journaling practice sessions, it can be concluded that the work program’s objectives were successfully achieved. The children appeared eager to follow the entire series of activities and were able to understand and practice the information delivered.

It is hoped that the Pekan Anak Nusantara activity can continue sustainably and become an inspirational and impactful educational tool for its participants. It is expected that this activity can be developed, not only as an annual event but can also be held routinely, so that it can provide a real positive impact on the community. Furthermore, it is hoped that the materials presented can be beneficial, supportive, and put into practice by the participants in their daily lives. For the students as organizers, this activity is expected to increase their sensitivity to social conditions and provide experience in conducting direct teaching to the community, which can serve as a stepping stone to continue growing and spreading usefulness.***