Digital Chapel Issue #68

DECEMBER 2021

DIGITAL CHAPEL Versão em Português

KNOWLEDGE BOWL TEAMS BRING HOME SILVER AND BRONZE In an unprecedented feat, Chapel High School students won two awards in a 16-team interscholastic tournament.

FIRST COMMUNION MASS BRINGS TOGETHER 100 STUDENTS After a two year hiatus, this special celebration occurred on November 6-7, involving 100 fourth and 5th grade students.

PRE II EMBRACES THE WORLD OF PETS Throughout the month of November, this unit brought Pre II students even closer to their pets, teaching how to care for and show affection to these beloved animals.

CHAPEL’S BEST UNDER 40

LIBRARIES RE-OPEN FOR STUDENTS The High School and Elementary School libraries re-opened to students on November 9. The ES Library even held a reinauguration event.

Rafael Takasu Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Columbia University

Imagens: Background vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com

ISSUE #68

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Pets are the theme of November’s Pre II unit The unit of study about pets is one of the most popular among Pre II students. During four weeks in November, the groups immersed themselves in the world of dogs, cats, turtles, iguanas, fish, and hamsters, among other little animals that can be raised at home. The two main learning objectives of the unit, according to ECEC coordinator Emanoelli do Valle, are to provide students with the opportunity to bring part of their family life to school, making the relationship between students and with teachers more meaningful, and to develop skills in care and responsibility. “Pets are part of the children's family life. When addressing this issue at school, students are able to share their previous knowledge with the group, and while they learn about the characteristics of different animals, they develop and exercise important values such as care, respect, responsibility and empathy. In taking care of another living being, they also learn to take care of themselves,” explains the coordinator.

Throughout the unit, students learn about the care that each type of pet requires. “We showed the students that each animal is different and that not all of them need the same care, and, like them, people also have different needs, and with this we develop respect for differences,” says Pre II teacher Maria Hernandez. Ms. Mônica Rossini adds, “Through this unit, we have strengthened the sense of community and belonging, and we connect this learning to the themes covered in our socioemotional curriculum.”

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“At the end of the unit, we review everything that has been learned and we invite them to share what they most enjoyed doing and learning throughout the unit,” concludes Ms. Costantini.

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Part of the children’s learning process takes place through symbolic play. “We have a corner in the room, an area that we set up with the help of students with toy animals, objects, and accessories for use and care for the pets, so that they have the opportunity to play and dramatize, pretending to be veterinarians and caregivers. It is a moment in which they experience in practice what they are learning about the unit of study,” explains professor Natasha Costantini. Ms. Rossini adds, “Through dramatization, we were able to observe different aspects of the students’ emotional and cognitive development, especially what they are learning and how they are feeling.”

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL First communion mass for ES students On the first weekend of November, the Chapel community gathered for a long-awaited celebration: First Communion. One hundred Elementary School students received their first sacrament of the Eucharist and renewed their baptismal vows in a special mass led

by Father Miguel Pipolo. Having gone two years without such a celebration, it was an emotional moment for everyone involved. Religion teacher Ana Lucia Dias says, “I received thanks from students from different grades - including a letter from the 4th grade - as well as acknowledgments from parents. All of this was possible because we did it together with the families, with the support of the parents and the perseverance of the children.”

Typically, First Communion is held when a student is in third grade, at which time the religious education curriculum prepares children for two sacraments of the Catholic Church: the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) and the Sacrament of First Communion. With the postponement of faceto-face events due to the pandemic, current fourth and fifth grade students never had the chance to experience these rituals. This year, these students reviewed what they learned back in third grade to understand the true and profound meaning of the first Eucharist. “In addition to being a very beautiful celebration, it is very sacred, and, in this sense, it is essential that the child feel sacred. That is why it is so important to create this divine space at school,” comments Ms. Dias. For Christopher Govier, another Religion teacher, it was very interesting to experience the mass in a new environment -- in the covered gym -- and it was a very happy moment to witness this ceremony: “Finally, we were able to see the joy of parents and students, all together as a community, and to see this sacrament, which is so important for

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Religion teachers explain that the celebration of this sacrament is preceded by three rites — the presentation, the lighting, and the sign of the cross — which are moments of preparation for the first communion. “First the children are presented to the community, then they receive the light of Christ, and finally they are marked with the sign of the cross, as followers of Jesus Christ,” explains Mr. Govier, adding: “All the symbolism involved in the sacrament makes us aware that we are participating in something bigger than ourselves -- hence the meaning of communion, as we eat from one loaf of bread and drink from one cup. The pandemic tore us apart physically, but in spirit we were always united.” The next special First Communion Mass will be celebrated in May of next year, when the current third grade students will receive the sacrament.

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our students, fulfilled. Furthermore, being able to embrace this fellowship in Christ is very refreshing.”

HIGH SCHOOL Chapel earns silver and bronze in the Knowledge Bowl The latest Knowledge Bowl, held online on November 12, was particularly special for Chapel.

Coordinated by teacher Bryan Sanders, both of the school’s teams achieved the best results in years: out of three possible awards, High School students won two, taking both silver and bronze. In addition to Chapel School, Graded School of São Paulo — who won gold — the International School of Curitiba, and the American School of Rio de Janeiro participated in the competition, which takes place every six months.

12th grade student Pedro Loureiro, captain of the team that won second place, says that the experience was wonderful, with everyone confident and well-informed. “As captain, my main focus was to keep the stress level of my teammates low and morale high. Inspired by our teachers, positive reinforcement and kindness helped me guide the team to reach second place among the participating teams,” explains Pedro.

“It was extraordinary to see that Chapel was the only school in the tournament to have two teams in the semifinal,” he added.

Even with social distancing, Chapel teams never stopped their preparation. And, as soon as the faceto-face activities resumed, the Knowledge Bowl club students met again weekly at the school, during lunchtime, when Mr. Sanders trains them, asking questions on the most diverse subjects. “Our students are strong in the three main areas of the tournament: Mathematics, Science — Chemistry, Physics and Biology — and Social Science — Geography and History. But they also did well in Music,” celebrates the teacher. He takes the opportunity to thank the teachers of these disciplines for the excellent work they do with students. “I am very proud of this performance, which demonstrates Chapel's academic brilliance, a result of the hard work of the faculty and students who participated,” comments Mr. Sanders.

The trophies will be displayed at school and “everyone will be able to know that the teams have prepared very well to deserve these results,” Mr. Sanders concludes.

Meet the members of Chapel’s Knowledge Bowl teams:

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Team B — Bronze medal Yeongin (Elren) Chae (captain) — 12th grade Marco Rillo Montini — 10th grade Alma Castañares — 9th grade Bernardo Freitas — 9th grade

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Team A — Silver medal Pedro Loureiro (captain) — 12th grade Beatriz de Oliveira Abram — 9th grade Laura Mussolin Santiago — 9th grade Luciano Salomoni de Antoni — 9th grade

After twenty months of lending materials online and not receiving students or hosting events, Chapel's libraries reopened to the public on November 9. “All the activities that used to be carried out in the libraries have resumed, but we are still following sanitary protocols, such as the use of masks and alcohol gel,” explains librarian Fernanda Caires. In the Elementary School library, the reopening was done in grand style: each class participated in a sort of reinauguration, cutting a ribbon and reopening the space. “The children had so many different reactions of pure happiness, and this symbolic gesture showed all that we are regaining, even if the pandemic is not over yet”, comments Ms. Caires.

Ms Caires reinforces that, even when they were closed, libraries continued normally with book checkout and research, but all in an online format. During social isolation, when logging in and reserving titles through the system, the library staff separated the requested material, placing it in a bag and handing it to each student in the classroom. And this experience proved to be positive for the community: “While we were closed, we all learned new things; it became an opportunity for parents and students to become familiar with the library’s electronic catalogue.” She explains that, through an individual login, everyone can see available books, track loans, know the return date, all in a system that can be consulted from any computer.

Some new features were also implemented during this period, such as the ecobag that replaced the plastic bags used by students to borrow books. “Since August, students have been using a fabric ecobag to take and bring books to the library,” says Ms. Caires.

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REOPENING Libraries come back to life as students return

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In the High School library, the temporary classroom — which had been set up to guarantee the social distancing of students — was taken down, liberating the space at the back of the library. Thus, students can finally enjoy the cozy lounge with tables and chairs that had been installed before the library closed in 2020. “The reopening was as good for the students as it was for our team, who missed the kids a lot. The presence of students makes us all feel good; they bring life to the library,” concludes Ms. Caires.

Briefly describe your professional life.

Today I work as a software engineer at a startup called Second Spectrum, which does data analysis with artificial intelligence for sports (soccer, basketball, and American football). I develop the internal process, which is responsible for handling the data and delivering it to clients.

I am starting a new job in January, at Google, where I will work on the YouTube team, as a full-stack engineer.

Your biggest goal in life is: For now, my goal is to learn as much as possible about all aspects of how to develop software, so that in the future I have the foundation needed to become a technical leader (head of engineering, CTO) of a technology company.

Tell us your best memory from Chapel.

I have a lot of good memories from my time at Chapel, so here are a few. I've always loved Little/Big 8 tournament trips, but I’ll never forget the Little 8 that we won gold in futsal after an extremely close final against Graded. It was 2x1 with at least five balls hitting the crossbar. The WOC trips to Paraty and Salvador were also awesome.

And there's also no way I can forget about the time I was applying to universities. The applications themselves were quite stressful, but I had a lot of support from the teachers and counselor at the school, who gave me the opportunity to get into a university that I never thought I would. The feeling of receiving the acceptance letter was unparalleled, and I could see the pride of everyone who helped me through the process.

How has Chapel influenced your life?

I would say Chapel gave me a foundation to be a more complete person. Academically, I was able to focus on subjects that interested me the most, such as physics and chemistry. But I also had to learn about humanities, literature, and other subjects that helped me not only in college but in life. Of the classes I took in High School, the most useful for my college curriculum were HL Physics and HL Mathematics, but the class that most influenced my life was Brazilian Social Studies. It made me interested in the history of Brazil and gave me perspective on how to think about Brazil’s position in the world. The IB, in general, was very good preparation for college. I felt that at Columbia, even though I was surrounded by the top students in the United States, I had already learned a lot of things they were learning for the first time in freshman year. In addition to academics, I learned a lot from extracurricular activities like football, NHS, and StuCo, which taught me to teamwork.

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Photo digitally altered to preserve image rights.

CHAPEL’S BEST UNDER 40: Rafael Takasu, age 26.

City where he lives: Los Angeles

Period he studied at Chapel: I did second and third grade (in 2002-2003) and then I left, returning for grades 7-12. I graduated in 2013.

What is your academic background?

I have a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Columbia University. I graduated in 2017

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