Digital Chapel #63

Issue #63

November 2020

DIGITAL CHAPEL Versão em Português

CAMPUS REOPENS FOR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Chapel began the gradual reopening of campus for in-person activities on October 13. Organized by the P.E. Department, in partnership with ECEC, Elementary, and High School administration, a series of extracurricular

STUDENTS GET INVOLVED IN SERVICE PROJECTS Actions of solidarity marked the quarantine period for Chapel students, several of whom carried out initiatives to raise money for charitable campaigns and institutions.

activities are now being offered after school from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.

CHAPEL’S BEST UNDER 40

Davi Nakajima An Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology

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NEW ARRIVALS Meet four new teachers who joined Chapel’s faculty this year.

RETURN PLAN Extracurricular Activities Enable Gradual Re-opening of Campus Chapel began the gradual re-opening of its campus on October 13, offering a program of extracurricular activities, open to all students, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. every evening. Led by the P.E. Department, in partnership with the administrators of all three school divisions, the program focuses on the emotional welcoming and physical and social well-being of students, who have spent a lot of time away from school.

students enrolled, the program had to be carefully designed to accommodate student preferences and schedule so many different activities up to three times a week. “There was a concerted effort by so many people here at Chapel to ensure that all students could come to school on a weekly basis without exceeding the maximum capacity and respecting all health and safety protocols,” says athletic director Bruno Pereira. To this end, the entire school community pitched in to help prepare the campus for students: creating extensive signage, adapting the duties of the security and cleaning teams, adjusting the methods of food service, and mobilizing the sport coaches, who returned to their activities at Chapel.

After designing a return plan, which had to be approved by the regional education secretary, students were invited to participate. Using a Google form, interested students signed up for activities like futsal, basketball, football, cheerleading, arts, creative moment, yoga, capoeira, and Pilates. With approximately 360

For these after school programs, the school gates open at 3:30 p.m., half an hour before the activities begin. Cars line up to drop off students, since no adults are allowed on campus except inside their cars in the parking lots. Two nurses check students’ temperatures, while the teachers greet them, directing each one to his

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or her scheduled activity. Activities have been planned to eliminate any interaction between students from different grades; moreover, the school has extensive signage guiding students to their specific spaces on campus. The rooms for activities are sanitized constantly by cleaning teams, who are on standby to clean all areas before and after each activity. At the end of each session, students receive a snack to take home or eat on the way. interacting with friends from the same year gave the opportunity for students to get back to relationships within the school environment.�

The extracurricular activities program served as an excellent test, helping prepare Chapel for a gradual return, which became more extensive in late October, including all grades and divisions.

Since October 26, ECEC and Elementary students have also returned, respecting the legal limit of 20% of each class. They have participated in extracurricular activities in the

According to Mr. Pereira, the opening of the school for these extracurricular activities was important for two main reasons: “For the school, it was crucial to understand the protocols and test what works or does not work in relation to physical distancing, the reception of students, student interactions, signage, and organizing arrival and departure, among other things. For the students, this emotional welcoming, through activities and social interaction, even at safe distances, was very good for reducing children's anxiety, preparing them for what lies ahead. The possibility of

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morning as well as support lab in reading and mathematics. Since October 28, High School students (in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades) also began returning to classes on campus. Even with these new opportunities on site, it is worth remembering that the remote extracurricular program, under way since the beginning of classes in August, has also continued. Every day at 4:00 p.m. for Elementary and 4:45 p.m. for High School, several clubs are offered. These include crochet, yoga, Pilates, gardening, ballet, cheerleading, and even cooking classes with a chef. Come join in the fun!

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cookies and donating the profit to an institution that distributed masks and equipment to hospitals: “It would be a way to help the community in this difficult time. That is where the ‘Cookies do Bem’ project came from,” she said.

ACTS OF SOLIDARITY Students Dedicate Themselves to Service Projects During Quarantine In order to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic in Brazil, several Chapel students spent their quarantine immersed in humanitarian projects, raising money for charitable organizations working to fight the effects of the coronavirus.

To reach their goal, they created an Instagram account (cookies.do.bem) to publicize the project, attract customers, and receive orders. “We posted photos of the process of making the cookies; it caught people's attention, and they placed orders. We worked a lot — sometimes 12 hours a day — to make the dough, bake the quantity relative to the orders, and make the deliveries. The whole house was dedicated to making these cookies,” shared Maria Fernanda. At night, the sisters cleaned the kitchen to start over the next day.

Below, find out about some of the initiatives led by students from 5th to 12th grade, the motivations that guided them, and the learning experiences that emerged as these young people engaged in acts of solidarity.

Cookies do Bem In just over a month, sisters Maria Fernanda (12th), Maria Eduarda (10th), and Maria Carolina Melo (7th) produced 1,600 cookies. They worked hard, but the payoff was sweet: at the end of the project they donated 100% of their R$5,000 profit to the “Abrace a Saúde” campaign, of Fundo Emergencial para a Saúde — Coronavírus Brasil, made possible by the BSocial platform.

It was a great learning experience for all the girls: “I learned to be more patient,” commented Maria Eduarda, “because working in the kitchen requires this. It’s a slow process and a single error can ruin an entire batch. I also acquired more responsibility, mainly to manage my time and fill all the orders. I had to rethink my priorities and learn to organize myself better.” Sister Maria Fernanda added, “I learned a lot about the administrative process, which is quite extensive, as I dealt with marketing, finances, and deliveries. I learned to organize myself to fulfill my school obligations, other activities, and still make cookies. It is essential to stay organized, especially when working with fresh food, as a major responsibility is to deliver a crispy and fresh cookie to the customer.”

Brownies2help

The initiative began when the girls started making cookies to distract themselves during the quarantine. Maria Eduarda says that they packaged some and shared them with friends. Upon receiving praise, they talked to their mother and had the idea of selling their

When they decided to start a project to raise money for the benefit of people who needed help in the pandemic, 7th grade friends Beatriz Rangel and Mel Arantes thought of something they could develop on their own. “We thought of edible products because that is what we 5

had the most access to. We were inspired by other initiatives that were also selling sweets and we thought about diversifying. That's why we chose to make brownies,” said Mel Arantes.

Konfeitaria Kokudai Konfeitaria Kokudai was born just over two years when sisters Isabela (11th) and Mariana Kokudai (8th) turned their hobby of making cakes and pastries for family parties into a business. “We developed the techniques we learned and created an Instagram account (konfeitaria.kokudai) to fulfill orders,” said Mariana, 13 years old. With the purpose of always working towards social causes, this year they decided to donate 50% of their income to Somar Associação Solidariedade em Marcha (@ somar_brasil), an institution that serves families in situations of high vulnerability in Jardim São Luís, in the south region of São Paulo.

That was how Brownies2help was born. Their goal was to donate 25% of its profit (R$1,000) to the campaign Abrace a Saúde — do Fundo Emergencial para a Saúde — Coronavírus Brasil. “We had the idea in June, tested the recipes, opened an Instagram account (brownies2help), and in July we started selling,” explained the 13-year-old.

In the beginning, the friends thought of selling only to people they knew, using their own social networks. “Our friends did help out a lot, but as we set a reasonable price and wanted to increase the volume of sales, we established contacts with some digital influencers to help us gain more recognition,” said Beatriz Rangel. And so, they signed partnerships with blogger Bia Herrero (1.5 million followers), singer and actress Luiza Gattai (77 thousand followers), and child actress Pietra Quintela (5 million followers), to whom they sent some brownies, asking them to mention the project on their social media. The initiative was successful, and the growth in sales inspired the creation of a new product: a brownie mixed with cookies.

They started to organize themselves at the beginning of the quarantine in March, and the following month they put their project into practice. “With the pandemic and more free time at home, we have developed new techniques and increased the number of customers. With that, we managed to make a sizeable donation,” explained Isabela, 17 years old. At the end of five months, they donated about 50% of their revenue to the institution, an amount used to assemble personal hygiene kits distributed to teenagers assisted by the SouMais project, maintained by the association. Somar was chosen because Isabela knew of and followed the institution's work: “My experience of visiting the community on

Beatriz Rangel tells what she learned from the project: “It was really cool because I learned to cook a lot better and socialized more. Also, seeing the work it takes to maintain a store, however small, was very worthwhile, especially since we are helping people.” Mel Arantes agreed: “It is not easy — it is a lot of work because we are doing everything ourselves. But, I learned to deal with money and run a small business, and that is a start, knowing how to sell, organizing accounts. And, in the end, it is worth it because all the effort was for a good cause.”

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several occasions and seeing children happy with very simple actions was an incentive. For me, service is like affection, it is not much for those who give it, but very significant for those who receive it,” commented the teenager.

children. With the donations, it was also possible to prepare and distribute fifty lunch boxes. With the help of his mother and nanny, he established contact with the donors and the beneficiary families, he picked up donations, and accompanied the delivery to the families. “Even though it was not enough, I was happy to be able to help,” he commented. So he prepared another live stream. In this second phase, he managed to donate 50 blankets. This time he had help from his younger brother, Pietro, from the 1st grade, who accompanied him on the delivery.

Konfeitaria Kokudai always looks to raise funds for charitable organizations, and the sisters like to get to know these entities and establish a connection with them before starting a project. “When you help another person, you always end up growing and creating a connection with them, even though you are physically distant,” commented Mariana. Isabela adde, “We do this as a form of gratitude, being thankful for everything we have. We are not going to solve the problems of the world or even Brazil, but we think we will help some people, and that is a great motivation.” The sisters intend to continue with projects of this nature, supporting causes and institutions.

Live do Bem For Christmas, João Luca is already thinking about another initiative. Through Live do Bem, he intends to collect clothes and toys to give to children. He says that his desire is to help everyone in need and that he feels good about being able to do something for those who are in difficulty. “I am proud to have had the idea to borrow my mother's cell phone that day, and to not be embarrassed to go ‘live’ and talk about the effects of the pandemic in these communities,” he revealed.

João Luca Catenacci, a 5th grader, has always liked to help people. This year, at the beginning of the pandemic, he was even more touched by the situation of some families who started to live in makeshift shacks on an avenue in the south of São Paulo, which João passed on his way home. Every time he passed through the community, the 10-year-old boy was sad and sometimes even cried. It was then that he had the idea of helping those families through a project he created, Live do Bem. Using his mother's cell phone, João Luca went live on social media to explain the situation of the community and ask for contributions. Most of the people who participated in his live stream helped and, in the first phase of the project, João managed to donate masks, food, clothes, shoes, and even toys — one of the families in the community has eleven 7

positive,” she said. Ms. Lopes emphasized the organization of the school and the professionalism of her colleagues: “The warm and friendly attitudes caught my attention, in addition to the care for teachers. Because I had an American background, I identified a lot with Chapel's culture.”

PLEASURE IN SHARING KNOWLEDGE Paula Cristina Magalhães Lopes | ES English support teacher

The new teacher also said that her passion for teaching has been reinvigorated at Chapel: “I feel a great pleasure to be a teacher here: to teach, deal with students, plan lessons, share knowledge — I do all this with great joy.” When not dedicated to students, Ms. Lopes enjoys reading and watching TV series and documentaries, always looking for connections to her classes and chances to build knowledge. At the moment, she said she misses going to the cinema and traveling, two of her other passions.

The new 1st and 2nd grade Elementary School English teacher fell in love with teaching at the age of 17, when she started her first job at a bilingual school in Alphaville (Barueri), where she lived since childhood. Despite studying Advertising and Marketing at ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing), the young Paula Cristina Magalhães Lopes already knew that she would not pursue a career in advertising. “I fell in love with teaching for two reasons: I love children and I love the English language,” she said.

After finishing her Advertising degree, she decided to pursue an additional degree in Pedagogy from the University of São Paulo. At that time, her career took off: she taught at a bilingual school, then at a language school specialized in English and translation; she was later promoted to coordinator at Berlitz Languages, took an English language improvement course in San Francisco, California, and eventually joined Tip Toe School, in Alphaville, where she worked for eight years.

From there, she went on to teach for four years at St. Francis and another six years at St. Paul’s.

She then had a chance for a unique international experience, spending a year in China, where she lived while teaching at an American school.

Once back in Brazil, she returned to work at St. Paul’s. Earlier this year, her career took yet another turn when she got the opportunity to join Chapel’s staff. “Professionally, I am very happy at the moment. I liked Chapel since the first interview — all my impressions were very 8

that she really missed living here; after all, she had been living abroad for 11 years. That was when she looked for opportunities in international schools, and once again made her way to Chapel — this time as a teacher. “I felt a peace in my heart from the first moment I stepped on campus,” she commented. “I'm sure that I will learn and grow here. I couldn't have had a better reception: my colleagues are very kind and I feel very well cared-for.”

A PASSION FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN Elissa Choi | 4th grade teacher in ES

In her free time, the new teacher divides her attention between her daughter and her husband, who are adapting to Brazilian culture. In addition, Ms. Choi likes to sing and play the piano, especially among friends.

Chapel is a familiar environment for Elissa Choi, who joined the staff as a 4th grade teacher at the start of this school year. A PACA (Pan American Christian Academy) student from kindergarte n to high school, Ms. Choi came to Chapel for numerous athletic competitions, and she fondly recalls BIG 8 soccer and basketball games. As soon as she graduated from high school, she moved to the U.S. to study Communication — with an emphasis on Journalism — and Theology at Biola University, just outside Los Angeles, California. The daughter of pastors, she has worked with children since she was a teenager, when she taught at her church's Sunday school. She also spent her holidays traveling around Brazil giving English lessons to children from poor communities. “Working with children is so pure, and I have always had a passion for this work,” she revealed.

After graduating from college, she lived in the U.S. and worked as a journalist until she received an invitation to join the team of teachers at a newly opened American school in South Korea. At this American school, where she worked for almost six years, she started as an elementary school teacher and eventually became the English department coordinator. During this period, she also married and had a daughter, who is now 18 months old. “Teaching helped me find myself. It is such a fulfilling feeling to witness a child's development,” she said.

Earlier this year, Ms. Choi's father fell ill, prompting her to return to Brazil. She said 9

opportunity to teach Religion arose. “It was a gift for me. This experience has been excellent: the students are engaged, the school environment is friendly and cordial, and the class is very open and allows for productive discussions,” he commented.

CREATING HUMANISTIC VALUES Jean Marcus Silva |HS Religion teacher

Mr. Silva considers that all the activities to which he dedicates himself are intertwined, and that all these challenges generate knowledge. For this reason, Mr. Silva has several passions, one of which is writing: “I have already written some novels, but I have not yet been able to publish them,” he said. At the moment he is also dedicated to studying Artificial Intelligence, which, for him, is an extension of the human being. In addition, he plays the trumpet in a jazz band, travels around the city with his new electric bicycle, and cultivates a garden.

The academic path of the new high school religion teacher is quite unorthodox, as he himself points out. Although he studied at one of the best Philosophy programs in Brazil, at UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), Jean Marcus Silva was frustrated with the course and decided to look for other opportunities outside of Brazil. In California, he discovered the Bachelor of Liberal Arts, offered by Soka University of America, a course that trains academics based on humanistic values. Having studied English since he was 7 years old helped him with the admission process, and he was accepted. “It was a moment that changed my life, educationally speaking; I discovered a totally new world, of learning to learn, in a very profound way,” he said.

After graduating and returning to Brazil, Mr. Silva started a career as a fiction writer — an endeavor he is still dedicated to — until he was invited to teach the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class at Soka do Brasil, in São Paulo, which had just implemented the IB (International Baccalaureate) curriculum. “I found myself teaching Theory of Knowledge, which was great. Ever since my university days, I have been inspired by the ideas of the American philosopher John Dewey. For me, education is very much about the relationship that I can build with my student. So, when I started teaching, I just put into practice what I believed, very naturally,” he explained.

Earlier this year, in search of a new challenge, he sent his resume to Chapel and the 10

reacts, among other things, to visual stimuli when studying mathematics.

CULTURAL EXCHANGES Marina Cajado | HS Mathematics Teacher

In her leisure time, the teacher enjoys traveling and visiting new places, preferably experiencing the local culture. She also loves the beach, being with people, and staying active: “I like sports and circus arts. At the moment, I practice aerial silk and pole dance,” she concluded.

When the project came to an end, Ms. Cajado spent six months traveling in Asia, during which time she began to teach private math classes in English. “I lived for a while in Bali, Indonesia, and taught English-speaking children from different cultures, and the cultural exchanges were very rich,” she said. Despite the curricular freedom that homeschooling provides, she followed the Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Seconda ry Education) curriculum, a program with an international certificate recognized by the main universities of the world.

Back in Brazil, Ms. Cajado complemented her undergraduate degree with a formal teaching certificate, and continued giving private lessons to Brazilians and foreigners. Then, in 2019, she became licensed as a teacher in the State of São Paulo and, a year later, she joined Chapel. “The experience of teaching mathematics in English, of having an overview of education in different cultures, of having lived in different places, and the experience in the classroom, all of this was incredible for my training,” she commented. At the end of last year, she became an instructor of Mathematical Mentalities, an approach created by Stanford University Professor Jo Boaler, who relies on neuroscience studies that show how the brain 11

CHAPEL’S BEST UNDER 40: Davi Nakajima An, 20 years old

City of residence: Atlanta, Georgia — EUA

Time at Chapel: From 6th (2012) to 12th grade (2018)

What is your academic background?

I am currently studying Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Briefly discuss your professional performance.

I did two software engineering internships at Facebook, during the summer vacation last year and the year before. I also work as a research assistant in a biomedical engineering laboratory at my university, where I am part of a big data project in the biomedical sciences.

Your biggest life goal is: Explore the limits of science and technology..

Tell us your best memory at Chapel.

My fondest memory at Chapel was at the end of my first semester at school. As I came from a Brazilian school, my English was not very good and I did not understand American teachers very well, especially my math teacher. When they spoke to me in English, my answer was almost always: "What?" — one of the few words in my vocabulary. I was very anxious for the first few months, feeling like I didn't belong at Chapel. “What am I going to do? Will I have to go back to my old school? My mom will be mad,” I thought. However, all of that changed when, after one of our last math tests of the semester, Ms. Gayle praised me for having improved so much in the past few weeks. My new friends also congratulated me, and with this compliment I knew it would be all right. This simple “good job!” made me feel part of Chapel.

How has Chapel influenced your life?

A little over two years ago, I graduated from Chapel. I still have contact with my friends from school and now I even live with a former student who studied with us for three years before moving back to Portugal. Chapel's biggest influence on my life was the people. As the school is relatively small, you can get to know the teachers and students very well. Therefore, each interaction with someone has a lot more weight, because you will see and interact with them several times at school. I remember several conversations, situations, and stories with my friends at Chapel who have influenced me until today. In the end, the character of all the people I met at school helped make me who I am and affects the decisions I make today.

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