Inside Chapel #23 English

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CHAPEL Issue 23 - September 2021 / ISSN 2527-2160

TRANSFORMING LIVES Alcione Albanesi and the project Amigos do Bem

HOLISTIC LEARNING The highlights of Chapel’s childhood education

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Alumna Fabiana Saad is dedicated to female empowerment

WE ARE A TEAM An essay by Ana Paula Henkel

WOMEN ON THE RISE The young executive Lisiane Lemos is one of the most powerful voices for gender equality in the corporate world

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EDITORIAL

Pe. Lindomar Felix da Silva OMI, Provincial of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Brazil

As we have been esteeming life changing experiences that are signs of hope, we also have the great pleasure of telling you the beautiful story of Alcione Albanesi, president of the famed Amigos do Bem NGO, responsible for taking a lot of hope to those who historically have been victims of the strong droughts in the northeast of Brazil.

Every good and worthy tree is famous for always bearing good fruit. It is not different with the Chapel ‘tree’; and it is in this sense that you, the reader, will have the opportunity to get to know a success story from one of our alumni, the accomplished social entrepreneur Fabi Saad. You will see that Chapel has raised her so high, that in her own words, it is possible to see that what she is and has today, she owes to Chapel. All of you will have the opportunity to enjoy this great success story, which fills us with much joy, because it is this feedback that assures us that we are truly on the right path.

Later or afterwards, you will have the opportunity to understand how early childhood education is organized and applied here at Chapel School. We have a very well organized program, led by renowned professionals with qualifications from the best and most respected educational institutions in the world, precisely because parents have entrusted us with the care of their children and thus our main and daily objective is to educate these children as best as we can to better prepare them for the future.

In this special edition, where we seek to value talent and importance from female figures in society, we have the great joy of presenting a beautiful written piece by Ana Paula Henkel. This piece encourages this reflection, about women’s

role in society, and how it is still unfortunately marked by an exclusivist and belittling view towards women and their value to us. Ana Paula was really gracious in her ponderings as she takes a balanced and unbiased look, understanding both sides of the question at hand, discussing the historical pros and cons that justify the societal model we have nowadays.

A society that esteems the maxim of doing a good turn, without expecting anything in return has grown immensely during this pandemic, and at Chapel it hasn’t been different.

For this very reason we opened this edition to reveal social initiatives that have transformed many lives, sparking the flame of hope which had almost gone out in the lives of so many brazilians and foreigners.To make matters worse, in March 2020 we were hit by this pandemic, which unfortunately we still have not completely overcome. However, in the same measure that these times have been challenging, so too has the determination of our young students to create transformative social outreach inspired by all they have learned at our highly regarded educational institution.

We also have highlighted some cultural initiatives like recitals, songs, seminars for families and exhibits concerning important scientific discoveries made by women, demonstrating that there have not only been sad moments caused by the pandemic, this is the patchwork quilt of life. Finally, o close this edition of our informative publication, we follow the culturally oriented paths of our young sportsmen and women from a variety of sports, like sailing, horseback riding and soccer, highlighting their victories and life stories in order to encourage other young people to also see in sport one of the many ways to selfactualization and perhaps a career in the future.

Thus, in the guise of a short conclusion, I will say goodbye and wish that this Inside Chapel edition, marked by the protagonism of talented and beautiful youths, will be motivating for every reader. We live during hard times.

However, this edition, which you happen to be holding now, will show that no obstacle impedes us from achieving the highest place on the podium. It is this very dream that has moved the large Chapel School family for over 74 years. I wish you an enjoyable read and that God bless you all!

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ear Inside Chapel magazine readers, it is a joy to present this current edition which you are now holding.

We open this edition with a poignant text, which tells the victorious trajectory of a tenacious young woman aged only 31 who has really made a name for herself, having stood out in the non-profit sector, and has helped to demolish walls, which we have erroneously built throughout history, often motivated by chauvinism, prejudice and discrimination all of which have not helped contemporary society.

STAFF Inside Chapel is a semi-annual publication by Chapel School WWW.CHAPELSCHOOL.COM

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Miguel Tavares Ferreira, Marcos Tavares Ferreira, Adriana Rede, and Luciana Brandespim EDITOR: Paula Veneroso MTB 23.596 (paulaveneroso@gmail.com) EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Fernanda Caires (publications@chapelschool.com) CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS EDITION: Adriana Calabró, Ana Paula Henkel, Maurício Oliveira, and Paula Veneroso PHOTOS: Acervo Amigos do Bem, Arquivo Chapel, Chico Audi, Paulo Barros, and Reinaldo Borges GRAPHIC DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Vitor de Castro Fernandes (design.vitor@gmail.com) TRANSLATIONS: Chapel School PRINTER: Eskenazi

EDITORIAL

Ms. Juliana Menezes, Chapel Elementary School Principal

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t is with great pleasure that we bring you the 23rd Edition of Inside Chapel. The purpose of this magazine has always been to offer families insight and support for their children’s education.

At Chapel School, the start of this semester filled our hearts with joy and hope as we resumed in-person classes on campus and welcomed all students back to school! We are also very proud of our enrollment, as over 90 new students representing nine different nationalities have joined our student body this school year. Our growing enrollment reflects the strong teaching practices, rigorous curriculum, high expectations for teaching and learning, relationships developed over time, and a state-of-the-art campus.

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This year is my tenth year at Chapel School, and I’m delighted to be part of this issue, which features our Early Childhood Education Center - where school life begins. Many families have known me for a decade now, and our relationship began in the beloved ECEC. We have seen children adapting to school, building relationships, making friends and maintaining friendships, acquiring literacy and numeracy skills, beginning to read and write, transitioning to Elementary School, and moving on to High School. Seven years of my journey at Chapel School were spent in the ECEC, first as a teacher and then as the ECEC principal. I can assure you that the love, care, commitment, and dedication built into the programming choices and student’s daily routine is immeasurable. In this issue, you will read more about Chapel’s early years beliefs and practices, and you will be introduced to Ms. Emanoelli do Valle, the current ECEC Coordinator. Our mission with our youngest learners is to foster and cultivate intrinsic learning. By sparking their curiosity, interest, and love for learning through concrete and sensory experiences, and by intentionally building healthy relationships, we “Engage.

Challenge. Support. Care. Prepare students for life.”

CONTRIBUTORS

ADRIANA CALABRÓ [Transforming Power, p. 09] Is a journalist, writer, and screenwriter. She has received awards in the areas of communication (Best of Bates International, NY Festival, and Creation Club) and literature (Puc/UNESCO Best Books of 2017, ProAc Literature Scholarship, Off-Flip Award Finalist, winner of the João de Barro Award, Free Opinion Award finalist, and Paulo Leminski Award finalist). Adriana has been working as a facilitator at a Creative Writing Workshop called Palavra Criada (palavracriada.com.br) since 2005.

ANA PAULA HENKEL [Strong Women Don’t Demonize Men, p. 35] Ana Paula Henkel is an associate researcher at the Ronald Reagan Institute, an architect, and a political analyst. A former athlete, Ana Paula was a member of the Brazilian national team, participating in four Olympics; she earned a bronze medal for volleyball in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She is also a two-time world champion in beach volleyball. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is studying Political Science at UCLA and teaching courses on American history. Here in Brazil, she is a collaborator with Rádio Jovem Pan and a columnist for Revista Oeste.

MAURÍCIO OLIVEIRA [Education that Leaves a Mark, p. 30] Is a journalist from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), and has a master’s in Cultural History and a PhD in journalism from the same institution. He worked as a reporter at Gazeta Mercantil newspaper and Veja magazine. He has been a freelance journalist for 15 years, writing regularly to media such as Valor Econômico and O Estado de S. Paulo. He is the author of 15 books such as Patápio Silva, o Sopro da Arte, Garibaldi, Herói dos Dois Mundos and Pelé 1283.

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PAULA VENEROSO [“The impact I want to have on society is within the corporate environment. That is where change can happen.”, p. 19 and Early Childhood Education: Explore to Transform, p. 14] Is the editor of Inside Chapel. She is a journalist with a Master’s degree in Portuguese from PUC-SP. She has worked as a copyeditor, writer and reporter at Veja and Veja São Paulo magazines and at Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. She currently works as a book designer and editor, in addition to producing and editing news articles for print and digital media.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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AMIGOS DO BEM

INDEPENDENCE AND AUTONOMY

Alcione Albanesi’s project is making an impact on hunger and poverty in the Northeast of Brazil.

Chapel’s childhood education stimulates and develops life skills.

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An exclusive interview with Lisiane Lemos, a Google executive and founder of the project Conselheira 101.

Former student Fabiana Saad explains how Chapel influenced all aspects of her life.

GENDER EQUALITY

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POSITIVE WOMEN

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ESSAY

SPOTLIGHT

Athlete and commentator Ana Paula Henkel speaks about strong women.

Student service projects, the fifth annual Music Recital video release, webinars with Leo Fraiman, and an event with female scientists — hear about this news around Chapel.

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Meet five students who stand out in sports, the student council, and clubs at Chapel.

A register of important events in the school community: NHS and NJHS induction ceremonies, Spirit Week festivities, 6th grade Fun Day, and end of year activities for the ECEC.

TALENTOS & PAIXÕES

GALLERY

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PROFILE – ALCIONE ALBANESI

By Adriana Calabró Photos: Chico Audi and Amigos do Bem Collection

TRANSFORMING POWER

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nyone who listens to Alcione Albanese speak, in a professional environment about her work with the Amigos do Bem project, soon realizes she is a woman of outgoing energy, vibrant in her ideas and words, utterly committed to her role as president of the institution. However, when seeing her in action, holding hands with children in the far corners of the Northeast, on the front line fighting against hunger and poverty, one comes to understand that her role as a citizen and her vision of solidarity go far beyond her position or title. It is pure moving power. This force one observes in Alcione did not come about by chance.

She learned how to appreciate volunteer work and dedicate her inexhaustible energy to those in need, like Dona Guiomar, her family’s matriarch. “My mom is an inspiration to me. I always say ‘you are taught to be good’ and it was exactly like that for me. Ever since I was young, I accompanied my mother’s social work,” she says. “During vacation, I looked after children who lived in the daycares she built.”

Guiomar’s legacy continues in future generations, for her grandchildren have been committed and accompanied Alcione to the Northeast, since their first trip. “I came from a middle class family, who achieved everything through a lot of hard work. My father was a constructor, and my mother was born in the countryside of Presidente Prudente. We went to a private school, but I believe the most important lesson was taught by them, our principles and values,” clarifies Alcione.

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WITH A SOLID AND WELL INTENTIONED BACKGROUND, ALCIONE ALBANESI SETS A PATH OF FORCE, RESILIENCE, AND ACHIEVEMENT WITH THE AMIGOS DO BEM INSTITUTION. SHAPING LIVES AND BUILDING THAT WHICH SEEMS TO BE IMPOSSIBLE ARE HER SPECIALTIES

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“MANY PEOPLE SAY ‘GIVE A MAN A FISH AND YOU FEED HIM FOR A DAY. TEACH A MAN TO FISH AND YOU FEED HIM FOR A LIFETIME’ BUT I ALWAYS REPLY, ‘ONE CANNOT FISH IN A DRIED UP RIVER’”

It is worth mentioning that even though Alcione now works full time dedicated to her vocation with Amigos do Bem, obtaining remarkable results in terms of social transformation, she once had to reconcile all of her charitable actions with a busy corporate lifestyle. She was a lamp factory owner for many years and set an example for her executive partners, who also joined the project.

Ever since she was a teenager, she had a vocation for business and made a mark in the corporate market, being one of the pioneers at establishing relationships with China. Today, her gift of negotiation continues, but her verve is directed at multiplying investments in other sectors, in life and hope.

A Look at Reality The work at the Amigos do Bem institution started 27 years ago in a spontaneous way. In 1993, Alcione Albanesi and twenty friends left for a trip to the Northeastern backlands, where they saw the sad reality before them.

Families going without food, water, or any possibility of work. “We found an entirely different country than the one we lived in, and for years we took them resources to diminish their suffering,” she says. As of 2002, the projects took shape, and a group led by her decision to transform lives in a more solid way, always learning as a community from their successes and mistakes. “We made ourselves acquainted with their language through emotion, through love, and above all, close interaction with the families. Outreaches were created from the daily contact with these people.”

Through time in action, it became clear that basic work needed to be done first, that required taking food and water to ensure people’s survival, followed by medical assistance and building houses so people could live with dignity. “Many people say that if you ‘give a man a fish you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime but I always reply, ‘one cannot fish in a dried up river.’” Poverty and misery are so profound and secular in this region, that we must provide basic resources so people can survive and then develop,” explains the founder.

The Numbers Brazil Wants to See Everyone wants to see leadership that praises governance, transparency, good communication, besides being recognized for its aptitude to raise funds. For the Instituto Doar, these are the requirements to award the year’s best NGOs, and in 2020, Amigos do Bem was elected the best organization in that sector. Numbers show that this achievement is not merely symbolic, but proven. They cared for 75 thousand people every month last year, in 140 small towns in Alagoas, Pernambuco,

and Ceará, and 10 thousand children and teens in the four Centros de Transformação (Transformation Centers), relying on 180 thousand meals served every month. There were more than 10,300 volunteers in action, both in fundraising and working on site.

There is more. If the initial concern was “teaching a man to fish,” more than 1,100 jobs were generated in agriculture, cashew factories, sewing and crafts workshops, and honey factories.

Not to mention educators and those in administrative posts who are making this great wheel of solidarity turn. Clean water and housing were not lacking: 123 cisterns were installed, 50 wells drilled, and more than 540 houses were built. In terms of health and college education, the results were also impressive. These are just as remarkable as one’s desire to cross hundreds of kilometers to help others: more than 187 thousand medical and dental care in the last year, and more than 500 college scholarships.

“We are happy with the recognition, but our greatest reward is to see the lives of millions transformed. Our motto is ‘if I cannot do everything I must, I must, at least, do what I can,” comments Alcione concerning the award.

A Sustainable Cycle The name of the institution led by Alcione Albanesi is very suggestive, for it really brings together a variety of people, entrepreneurs, volunteers, workers, who all have one single desire in common, to do good. If the project catalyzes such enthusiasm, it is because it offers many pragmatic ways to help, which makes everyone see not only the charity but a whole model of social development that brings solutions in the long run. “We act in all aspects of people’s lives, such as education, jobs and income, and in the basics for survival,” describes Alcione.

To even grasp the sheer amount of resources necessary to maintain a project such as this, one must understand that it attains no less than 11 of the 17 objectives in the UN’s social development requirements. Seventy five thousand

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But what is Amigos do Bem? Maybe the best answer is an image of one of the many interventions that took place in the city’s supermarkets before the pandemic.

A legion of unified smiling volunteers, people of different ages, social classes, and regions of São Paulo. All aligned by cash registers, engaged in conversation with everyone, proudly talking about the work accomplished in the Northeastern backlands and how millions are still benefiting from the donations received.

The speech captivated many customers, who included in their cart more items to be donated and sent to those in need. The incredible task force filled the project’s trucks with food, which then headed for the Northeast. In times of social distancing, the new reality required Amigos do Bem to change raising strategies and turn to the internet and social media. However, that initial image, the “face to face” interaction at the supermarket tells a lot about the spirit of the project idealized by Alcione and now serves as a foundation to solidify their online actions. Afterall, she and her team believe that it is through human connections and engaging action that bridges are built between such different realities. That of the urban reality with supermarkets fully stocked and monthly grocery shopping, and that of the backlands, with so many living below the poverty line.

PROFILE – ALCIONE ALBANESI

“AFTER MY FIRST TRIP TO THE BACKLANDS, I ALREADY KNEW I WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. I NEEDED TO TRANSFORM MY EXASPERATION INTO ACTION”

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people are monitored, from newborns to elders, in an extremely distant and hard to access semi-arid region. “Still we know it is possible to transform.

Almost 30 years of work has shown us that, but we rely on others’ solidarity to take opportunities to the backlands, from education for children and teens to jobs for men and women in a cycle of dignity,” completes Alcione, who wishes to increase the project’s selfsustainability even more. Speaking of cycles, some stories perfectly illustrate this continuity. It is Bruna Carvalho’s case, an educator at the Centro de Transformações in Alagoas, supervised

closely by Alcione. “When she was 7 years old, she was thirsty and hungry and today she spreads goodness.

After receiving a scholarship to study Pedagogy, she shows others how it is possible to dream, transform, and create opportunities for self-development.”

At the age of seven, Bruna desperately needed ‘fish’. Today, she is capable of taking many children fishing.

We Don’t Want Only Food Those who work with Amigos do Bem know the extent of how much they did when creating four entire cities in

the semi-arid region in the Northeast, but also how much more still needs to be done in other regions helped by the project. “Our children most of the time live in clay houses, in small isolated towns. Unfortunately, we can not provide housing for everyone,” says the leader of the visionary project. But she and the volunteers continue their trail of confidence, believing in the power of the new generation. “The youth are people-oriented. They have a more collaborative and humane outlook, really searching for a greater life purpose. This brings us a lot of hope because we know this social transformation will only be

Mother of 75 Thousand Ever since she gave up the corporate lifestyle to dedicate herself entirely to Amigos do Bem, Alcione Albanesi constructed an even more challenging routine. Half of the month in São Paulo’s capital and the other half in the backlands. To this day, amongst comings and goings, the disparity of both realities still affects her. “It is always a shock when I arrive in São Paulo. I always say I would like to ride a donkey back to the city and notice the discrepancies between the Northeastern backlands and the great urban cities.”

This social gap is so blatant in Alcione’s point of view that it has permanently shifted since the first time she had

WANT TO HELP AMIGOS DO BEM?

Challenge and Transformation To tell Alcione’s story we must begin by telling a little bit about the volunteer’s day to day outreaches to the public, afterall, that is exactly who the president of Amigos do Bem is, someone that

Learn more about this project, contact them or make a donation. www.amigosdobem.org

Instagram: @amigosdobem Facebook: /amigosdobem

informacoes@amigosdobem.org imprensa@amigosdobem.org.br Telefone: (11) 3019-0100 (11) 99916-6904

always believed that “all hands on deck” was the right way to act. With the pandemic, the physical contact and opportunities to share the project’s story in order to gain allies, have drastically diminished. As a result, the donations have been impacted severely. Once again, it was time to act. In 2020, during the first peak of the virus in Brazil, the NGO held an emergency course of action. “With the help of our volunteers and donations of many friends, we were able to provide food for more than 1 million people and assist more than 300 small towns in Alagoas, Caerá, Paraíba, and Pernambuco. We delivered more than 200,000 food baskets, door to door,” says Alcione. At the moment, they continue to raise donations to distribute 100,000 food baskets and assist more than 500 thousand people.

All this while maintaining existing projects. These are ambitious goals defined by the unwavering will to affirm solidarity. According to her, donors can be found anywhere, for it is not about the amount, it is the genuine desire to contribute. Alcione believes Brazilians are a giving people and this characteristic has been intensified by the pandemic.

“These are small gestures that promote big changes, and together they build a better country,” she says. Finally, we asked this warrior of kindness about her greatest personal dream. She was emphatic. “That poverty and hunger be remembered as historical facts in our country. That children and teens would be able to study and have dignity. That hunger and poverty would not be part of the reality of millions of people in Brazil. This is the mission and vision of Amigos do Bem, and for what we have dedicated our lives to.”

Let us all be inspired by this transformative dream.

Bank Deposit or PIX Amigos do Bem Inst. Nac. Contra a Fome e a Miséria CNPJ 05.108.918.0001/72 Banco Itaú Agência: 0466 Conta Corrente: 64653-6 Chave PIX: itau646536@amigosdobem.org

PROFILE – ALCIONE ALBANESI

contact with it. “After my first trip to the backlands, I already knew I would never be the same again. I needed to transform my exasperation into action, and that is what we, Amigos do Bem, alongside many volunteers and collaborators seek to do. Our country is amongst the highest GDPs in the world and amongst the most unequal on the planet. We must act to diminish this alarming difference,” she explains.

While she admires great and inspiring leaders, like Ghandi and Mother Teresa, Alcione says it is the common folk who do good, and the will to be better and more solidary is a choice. In her case, it was her choice to expand her family.

“With my backland family I learned to have more faith, to be more resistant, and to look at my problems differently,” she says. As for her biological children, she is dedicated to them and has well-founded expectations grounded in love and proximity. Even with her busy schedule, she always finds a way to spend quality time with them. “My children teach me that it is possible for us to be together at all times, even when I am away for more than 15 days in the backlands. They show me things are genuine when they come from the inside when we put love in everything we do, and that it is possible to maintain a path of goodness from one generation to the next.” She is a truly engaged and present mom in the lives of her four children in São Paulo and her 75 thousand children in the backlands.

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possible with the help of many. We seek to draw civil society’s and companies’ gaze to the need for change in our country, and consequently, a change in each of us.” According to Alcione, it is through Education that children and teens access infinite possibilities and it is also important that they too surpass the regional characteristics and isolation of the backlands. Knowledge goes beyond the basics in this project, it includes learning English for example. “Just like the internet, a new language expands the youth’s horizons and knowledge,” she explains. “The idea is to always provide resources and opportunities for people to generate their own income.” For Alcione, who internalized Dona Guioma’s values, a human being prefers to give rather than receive. “It is much better to give than to receive. When we donate, we are the privileged ones.” Another point, besides the financial resources, is faith, and Alcione said she learned a lot about faith, strength, and dreams. “If one’s belly is not empty, then one may dream,” says she.

By Paula Veneroso with the collaboration of Juliana Menezes and Emanoelli do Valle Photos: Chapel Archive

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EARLY CHILDHOOD “WE WELCOME NEW STUDENTS TO CHAPEL EDUCATION: EXPLORE THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR. SOME JOIN US TO TRANSFORM FROM LOCAL SCHOOLS, AND OTHERS FROM INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS. REGARDLESS OF WHEN THEY JOIN US, OUR MISSION IS TO ENSURE THESE STUDENTS ADAPT TO A NEW ROUTINE, FEEL WELCOMED, SAFE, AND, ABOVE ALL, BELONG TO THE GROUP” – JULIANA MENEZES

Early Childhood Education is considered one of the most important phases of child development. Students explore and experience social interactions outside the family unit and learn to deal with diversity. This occurs all while developing and exercising their autonomy, and forming their personality. By adopting the best pedagogical practices during pre-school years, the work accomplished in the ECEC (Early Childhood Education Center) promotes a holistic development - social, emotional, physical, and cognitive - laying the foundation for students’ academic success.

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arly Childhood Education at Chapel is based upon the premise that socialemotional and academic development are interchangeable. “We thoroughly work to create an embracing environment for students to feel part of the group and community. We understand that learning takes place when students feel safe and comfortable in their school surroundings and in their relationships with those who share experiences with them. We value developing the child as a whole,” states Ms. Juliana Menezes, Elementary School Principal and responsible for the school.

INSTITUTIONAL – ECEC every class allows us to explore all areas of knowledge,” affirms Ms. Menezes.

Pedagogical Approach

ECEC has adopted an authentic assessment system based on child observation from birth to Kindergarten, called Teaching Strategies GOLD. GOLD addresses nine areas of knowledge and development and is based on 38 learning objectives. This assessment model sets forth expectations concerning the skills and behaviors expected in a determined grade level while respecting and understanding that each child’s development is unique. “All of our pedagogical intentions are aligned with the learning objectives provided by GOLD. The material used is based on research and in best teaching practices.

With an interdisciplinary pedagogical approach, the Early Childhood curriculum is integrated and encompasses various areas of studies according to age groups.

“Interdisciplinarity integrates each subject studied. Learning units last an average of two weeks, however, may be extended to four weeks depending on the topic. Students are invited to participate in interactive games, sensory activities, visual arts, science, math concepts, and continue to expand their vocabulary in the English language, since

In every learning unit, there is an emphasis on the quality of the content presented to the students, as well as the quality of experiences provided.

For example, “When participating in discussion moments, students express thoughts and ideas while engaging in activities that promote creativity, imagination, and encourage critical thinking and problem-solving. Thus, children improve and integrate skills in a variety of areas,” explains Emanoelli do Valle, who was a Pre I teacher for three years, and since July of 2021, has been the ECEC Coordinator.

All student observations collected are used over the years to monitor their progress in each accomplished objective,” comments Ms. Menezes.

“Many times, learning a determined skill starts in Pre I and is continuously built on throughout upcoming grades.

Furthermore, children develop at different times, and the system we have adopted predicts this, which is essential to offer adequate support according to individual needs,” expresses Ms. Valle.

English Immersion English language immersion is another approach in Chapel’s ECEC. As soon as children start Pre I, they begin to experience English, the school’s official language. At the start of the school year, there is flexibility regarding the mixing of English and Portuguese to ease student’s adaptation. After all, it is not uncommon for Pre I to be the first school experience for most students.

“Towards the end of the adaptation period, the immersion in the English language begins. During this time, teachers attentively observe students, to ensure they feel safe and comfortable in the school environment. Communication mostly happens through gestures and actions, modeling to students what is expected. At every moment, actions are executed to lead them to understand

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The Responsive Classroom Program - RC, a component in Chapel’s socialemotional curriculum, is present throughout the ECEC, further developing and consolidating a sense of community in the classroom. This work is fundamental to solidify significant emotional connections and promote integration between students and teachers. “We welcome new students to Chapel throughout the school year.

Some join us from local schools, and others from international schools.

Regardless of when they join us, our mission is to ensure these students adapt to a new routine, feel welcomed, safe, and, above all, belong to the group,” explains Ms. Menezes.

and establish connections to what we are talking about,” says Ms. Menezes.

Ms. Valle reiterates that, when it comes to children, play is universal, regardless of their native language: “Even if at first a child is unable to communicate in the spoken language of that environment, it is through play when the most important interactions occur, therefore, students will internalize a second or even a third language naturally.”

At the start of Pre II, still fully immersed in the English language, students start having Portuguese classes twice a week. “The classes are aligned with the American and Brazilian Programs’ standards, and children continue to develop topics studied in Portuguese with a specialist teacher. A component of these classes is the exploration of Brazilian culture including national festivities, songs, and folktales.

The objective for these classes is to introduce and celebrate aspects of local culture, as well as develop students’ oral language skills,” explains Ms. Menezes.

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“WORKING WITH EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IS A PRIVILEGE” WHO IS EMANOELLI DO VALLE, ECEC COORDINATOR

In the first year of Elementary School, students begin the literacy process in Portuguese. In English, however, this process begins in Pre I, by developing their phonological awareness. The formal introduction of the phonetic methods only begins in Pre II. “In Kindergarten, this process deepens in a structured manner, as students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge acquired in Pre I and Pre II. In this grade, the phonetic method continues to be practiced daily, and the process of guided reading and writing begins. This occurs all while respecting each child’s development and by working in small groups according to their individual needs,” comments Ms. Menezes.

The Importance of Autonomy Achieving independence is one of the fundamental objectives in Early Childhood Education. Early on, students are encouraged to eat on their own, be responsible for their personal belongings, toys and materials, and especially develop autonomy. This

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t Chapel since 2018 as a Pre I classroom teacher, Emanoelli do Valle aligned her academic journey to work in international schools. During her undergraduate studies in Pedagogy, she obtained a merit scholarship for the International Program of Specialized Studies in Education at the University of Madrid, Spain, where she spent six months.

Upon graduation, Ms.Valle lived in New Jersey, United States, for a year.

She specialized in Child Development; physical, cognitive, and psychosocial at the University of Long Island, in New York. Upon returning to Brazil, she began working in bilingual schools, continuously enriching her degree with courses aimed at Early Childhood Education. During her first year at Chapel, she began her postgraduate studies in Neuroscience at Instituto

independence is evident throughout the students’ academic life and allows them to become facilitators of their learning.

Classrooms are equipped with materials and activities organized by subject math, science, social studies, language - providing exploration and free choice moments. During specific times in their routine, Learning Areas are available.

Students select different Learning Areas to explore. “With these activities, children learn to have responsibility with material, handling it carefully, from the moment they retrieve it from the shelf, taking it to their table, and then returning it to the correct place.

Whether it is independent exploration or collaboration with a friend, this is one of the most enjoyable moments for students,” affirms Ms. Menezes.

“Promoting children’s independence is crucial as they not only experience autonomy inside the classroom, but they also carry it over to their lives outside school. It is about taking care of yourself and preparing for life, the true meaning of all our work,” concludes Ms. Valle.

Singularidades, a course she has now completed. Her dissertation is used by many institutions to guide teachers in the field of neuroscience. Emanoelli do Valle considers Early Childhood Education one of the most important stages in child development, “It is a great pleasure to be a part of the leadership team in a school that promotes and pursues excellence in the development of their students as a whole.” Ms. Valle says that, as an educator, when thinking about Early Childhood Education, the word “privilege” comes to mind. “Every educator significantly contributes to their students’ development, but being part of this journey in its beginning stages, while they explore, experiment, learn, and discover not only about their surroundings but who they are, is a great privilege.”

INSTITUTIONAL – ECEC

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tarting in Pre I and continuing until 6th grade in Elementary School, the core of Chapel’s social-emotional curriculum is the Responsive Classroom Program (RC). The program cultivates student’s social and ethical development and implements positive discipline. These practices allow students to exercise their academic independence by involving them in creating rules, classroom organization, problem-solving, amongst other daily matters. All practices are treated collaboratively and systematically.

The use of daily morning meetings prepares students for the specific demands and needs of each day.

For this purpose, teachers apply positive language for interaction as a tool to promote learning, self-discipline, and foster a sense of community. “We believe

that discipline occurs with good practices and good examples. We focus on actions and solutions. In conflict situations or with inappropriate behaviors, the first step is to hear the student and understand what is happening. Logical consequences are always applied to the action, never the child. For example, if something breaks, the consequence would be to fix what broke, and for drawing on a table, it would be to clean it,” notes Ms. Menezes, referring to an important aspect of the social-emotional curriculum: the exercise of logical consequence, which consists of reflecting and learning from personal actions, in a way that this learning is applied in a variety of contexts, inside and outside school.

In Pre I, students learn and grasp socialemotional concepts and skills developed

in their daily school routine. In Pre II, they are introduced to the Caring and Sharing curriculum, concurrent to the Responsive Classroom. Caring and Sharing addresses, systematically, themes such as feelings, conflict resolution, empathy, cooperation, responsibility, and others. “Caring and Sharing is taught to students in Pre II through Kindergarten, in mixed groups. The meetings take place weekly in their respective classrooms.

During the pandemic, the curriculum continues to be developed within each classroom, however, the groups are not mixed,” explains Ms. Menezes. In these meetings, children are encouraged to express their ideas, as well as question and develop the focus theme in a way they can apply discussed strategies in their personal lives.

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SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE SCHOOL ROUTINE

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By Paula Veneroso Photos: Paulo Barros

COVER INTERVIEW – LISIANE LEMOS

“THE IMPACT I WANT TO HAVE ON SOCIETY IS WITHIN THE CORPORATE ENVIRONMENT. THAT IS WHERE CHANGE CAN HAPPEN” AS A TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SPECIALIST, LISIANE LEMOS IS ONE OF TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT BRAZILIAN VOICES CAMPAIGNING FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN THE CORPORATE WORKPLACE AND NOTICEABLY ACTS THROUGH THE CONSELHEIRA 101 GROUP, WHICH AIMS TO INCLUDE WOMEN OF COLOR IN ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCILS. AT THE THE AGE OF 31, SHE ALREADY HAS BUILT A BRILLIANT PROFESSIONAL CAREER AS WELL AS HAVING WON PRIZES FOR HER MANY INITIATIVES IN AND FOR THE COMMUNITY. “MY GREATEST GOAL AND CHALLENGE IS TO ALLOW GIRLS OF ALL COLORS TO SEE SUCCESSFUL WOMEN AND BEGIN TO DREAM ABOUT IT,” AFFIRMED THE SOUTHERNER FROM PELOTAS

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isiane Lemos prides herself on being listed in Linkedin Top Voices 2020 (which highlights the 25 most influential personalities on the social media platform during the past year). She confesses that the sheer amount of followers she continues to accumulate on the world’s largest corporate social media platform still surprises her, which now is almost 50 thousand. The young entrepreneur reveals that even though she has been placed in other noteworthy rankings, this one specifically was one she greatly desired to be on: “The other prizes I have received were all because of my hard work, but being listed on Top Voices was something I really wanted, because of the impact that I want to make on society and in the corporate environment, and that is a decision.”

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For a few years now, Lisiane’s initiatives have been noticed, and not only by people here in Brazil. In 2017, at the age of 28, she was listed on Forbes Under 30, being recognized by the American magazine as an outstanding member of Blacks at Microsoft, which gathered employees within the multinational to discuss issues of diversity and inclusion within their own company. In the following year, she was placed on a ranking detailing the most influential people of color in the world, by winning the entrepreneurship prize for the Most Influential People of African Descent – MIPAD, organized by the United Nations (UN).

All this recognition is the fruit of many initiatives, but it also stems from a single purpose: to stimulate the insertion of black professionals in the corporate world. According to a study done in 2016 by the Ethos Institute, in 117 of the 500 biggest companies in Brazil, people of color are mostly apprentices (57,5%) and trainees (58,2%), meanwhile, their participation drops to 6.3% in management positions, and to 4.7% when it comes to executive roles within these companies. The situation is even more unfavourable for women of color: in the companies taken into account, they occupy 10.3% of the positions at a functional level, 8.2% of supervising positions and, represent a mere 1.6% of management positions.

Having earned her Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas in 2012, Lisiane took on many roles within the AIESEC (an international platform which aids the professional development of students through activities focused on teamwork, leadership, and exchange programmes) until, as a fresh graduate, she decided to work in sales. She was hired at Microsoft where she remained for around six years and discovered her passion for technology. As a specialist in digital transformation, she went to work at

Born into a family of teachers, she never stopped studying. After graduating from college, she specialized in Project Management at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas and completed her MBA in Information Technology at Faculdade de Informática e Administração Paulista (FIAP). Recently, she completed an Executive MBA in Management and Business at the Fundação Dom Cabral and is now finishing a course on Governance for Women at Saint Paul Business School.

Concurrently to all her activities she also teaches at an MBA on Big Data at PUC-RS and is part of the advisory board to the Fundo de População das Nações Unidas (United Nations Population Fund), as well as giving lectures and being a columnist for publications specialized in technology.

It is no coincidence that her parents often warn her “Calm down, Lisiane.” Driven by challenges, nothing is impossible for this young woman from the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, who when faced with any difficulty asks herself “How can I change this? Who can help me solve this problem?” On a cold morning in June, at her family’s beach house in the south, close to Uruguay, she shared her story

with Inside Chapel and explained the many reasons, which led her at such a young age, to be considered one of the most influential executives in Brazil.

To be listed on Linkedin’s Top Voices 2020, shows the great visibility you have acquired on the internet. How are you dealing with the fact that with every passing day you grow more influential, and who is your target audience?

Lisiane Lemos: I have always wanted to be a Top Voice, but never could because I was working at Microsoft [and as a rule they do not consider employees to be eligible for the prize since the social media platform is owned by the company]. As an influencer I cannot deny that Linkedin offers me, beyond the professional interactions and opportunities to meet incredible new people, a vision on the scale of things, and a lot of visibility for myself, but, because of all this I am very exposed.

Anything I say can be misinterpreted and that makes me extremely cautious with everything I do on social media. What I truly want is for younger people to be inspired, for them to see that careers are not linear and that technology is for everyone, in a market where 70% of vacancies are left empty. [There is

COVER INTERVIEW – LISIANE LEMOS

Google in 2019, where she is currently the manager of large accounts.

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Inspired to change this scenario, Lisiane and a group of friends founded the NGO Rede de Profissionais Negros (The Black Professional Network). Not long afterwards, she was invited by Luiza Helena Trajano to be a part of the Grupo Mulheres do Brasil (Women of Brazil Group), which promotes the protagonism of female leadership, wherein she co-directed the Committee for Racial Equality. Recently, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, after realizing that the presence of women of color in corporate councils or boards was close to none, she created the Conselheira 101 (Counselor 101) project, which focuses on inserting women of color into these boards and positions.

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COVER INTERVIEW – LISIANE LEMOS When you remember your childhood and adolescence, what facts or moments come to mind that you hold to have been decisive in forming the person you are today? What moments or opportunities defined and/or outlined your future?

LL: For me, school was key, it is where we spend a great deal of our lives.

My parents, grandparents, and aunt are all teachers, and having become a teacher myself, school has always been important. I remember two things. The main positive aspect is that I was always a child who loved reading. So, schools, invest in your libraries, because for me

that really was fantastic. I would devour over three books a week. This habit made me a better reader and a better writer and it helped me to learn other languages. Also, it was at school (now this is a negative aspect) that racism first manifested itself in my life. Not only racism but all issues related to minorities.

Not only was I a black child, from a lower social class than my classmates, in a private school, but I was also fat. Even though schools have developed policies that address diversity and recognize bullying, when I was a child it wasn’t really like that, and I had to face all sorts of prejudice. Now, as an adult, I can see how much these events impacted my future. From the fact that I only was able to change my hairstyle at 30 because I wanted to conform to the beauty standards of straight hair that everyone had, to the issue of my weight, still very present, pressuring me to achieve an impossible beauty standard. Also, it is my childhood that led me to become addicted to collecting colored pens. I always wanted to own them but never had the money, so nowadays, I have over two hundred pens.

How do you think teachers failed to deal with these issues?

LL: It wasn’t that my teachers were

unaware, I believe they were unprepared.

Today, I see that as a teacher and educator, I must help build the school that I want to be a part of. I understand that society is evolving towards this goal. Being able to talk here, to this publication, is already proof of this development. The greatest issue I want to raise is that we should allow girls of all colors to see successful women and begin to dream for themselves.

How would you measure the importance of your family unit as you take into account your personal and professional decisions?

LL: If I could say 110%, that would be it. I am very much committed to my family, maybe too much. During the pandemic, I moved to Pelotas, so I could be closer to them. My family is crucial in my professional decisions because they know my values and know what is important to me. Since they have very different life stories I trust their advice to be useful. My father began to work in a factory at the age of 14 and retired at the age of 46. We usually joke by asking him what jobs he didn’t have: he washed cars, sold ice cream on the street, was a factory worker until he joined the military, and retired as a firefighter.

He began to study at university at the

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space for] a girl like myself from the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, with few financial resources, to venture into a São Paulo full of niches. I think of the youth and I want to share, not only the best practices but also the worst ones, because I haven’t got everything right in my career, I made many mistakes. I also want to, in some way, commend those who are older, those who have already gone down this path before me.

I am a person who really respects that and I enjoy giving exposure to other generations who are not as familiar with technology, but who have, so courteously, taught me something.

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Did your parents influence your degree choice?

LL: When I went to college, they said they wouldn’t get involved in my decisions because it was my career.

When I went into the corporate workplace, it was the same. The only thing they always said was “Calm down, Lisiane,” because I am very anxious.

I want things done immediately, and this was one of my biggest mistakes in the corporate world. I wanted to solve racism in three days. Now, I am a bit more relaxed and understand that this won’t happen. My parents are incredible and one of my goals, as I work, is to be able to offer happy experiences for my family. As soon as we are able to travel again our first destination will be New Zealand, where we will visit some relatives. We always travel as a large group and despite our lack of organization, I have gotten used to it, and enjoy having them all close by during my leisure time.

How did you go from having a degree in Law to becoming a specialist in digital transformation? What motivated you to follow a career within tech companies?

LL: As a recent graduate, I applied to all trainee openings I could find, around 30 of them. I wanted to get

In 2017 you were awarded the entrepreneurship prize for the UN’s MIPAD (Most Influential People of African Descent) and you are considered to be one of the most influential black voices in the world. Such recognition came from the NGO Rede de Profissionais Negros (Black Professional Network), which works to include people of color in the corporate world. Tell us about what motivated you to found this NGO. LL: When we created the Rede de Profissionais Negros [Black Professional Network] our objective was simple: we wanted to be seen. We were, and still are so few, fewer than 1% of high ranking leaders [are black], and even last year we still had no black board members. So, the objective was to bridge the gap between people, because representation is already a transformative element. Despite our internal differences

(from colorism to political opinion) just the fact that we are able to see each other and share life experiences is very good. I say this because a colleague of mine who isn’t black, no matter how empathetic he may be, will never understand what it is like to be trailed by security as soon as you enter a building, for example. That was my primary motivation, and second we saw the possibility of developing mentorship projects, something in which I greatly believe. We always would hear of how black people were underrepresented in leadership roles because of a lack of black candidates. But there were. We would post job openings and would encourage people to apply. Afterward, we held diversity consultancies, in order to strengthen black professionals as a whole. It might look a little selfish on my part, but I arrived in São Paulo without any friends, and that was an excellent opportunity for me to get to know people, and build bridges between them and these companies.

COVER INTERVIEW – LISIANE LEMOS

into the corporate world and what motivated me to work in technology was its impact: I always think about the greatest impact that it can have, not only within the industry but also in people’s lives. Technology is everywhere, from the moment when someone does their income tax, to when they buy a house. I like believing that I have a small influence in it all. Everything is rapidly changing all the time and this agility motivates me. Also, technology offers us the ability to have multiple careers combined as one, and that is exactly what has happened to me now. I take my expertise to these projects, but there is always something new to learn. I believe it is important to mention this subject because every company will become a tech company. Google says that every company will become a data company, and this is very true. Many people believe that they will only be in contact with technology if they work at a tech company like Google or Microsoft, but these companies are merely enablers of transformation. The greatest opportunity we have in tech is to digitally transform traditional companies. This is where I think the opportunities lie.

After this project, you began to dedicate more time to the issue of gender with projects focussed on women and more specifically women in leadership. What was that like?

LL: It was a natural development. I saw that even within black professionals, women had an even greater difficulty of climbing the corporate ladder. So, at the invitation of Luiza Trajano and Marina Martins, I went to Mulheres do Brasil [Women of Brazil] to co-direct a committee on Racial Equality with Elizabeth Scheibmayr, who is there until today. In that group, we made a cross section [of the company’s] leadership.

We noticed that there were great internship and trainee programs in the company (the statistics actually show a little bit of equality at this level) but, the question was: how do I form new coordinators, managers, and directors?

So, we started designing the project, called Aceleradora de Carreiras [Career Accelerator], which provides black women with the possibility to set their

“WE ALWAYS WOULD HEAR OF HOW BLACK PEOPLE WERE UNDERREPRESENTED IN LEADERSHIP ROLES BECAUSE OF A LACK OF BLACK CANDIDATES. BUT THERE WERE. WE WOULD POST JOB OPENINGS AND WOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO APPLY”

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age of 50, and his graduation day was the happiest day of my life. To see him receiving his diploma was so important because I know how many difficulties he has overcome. He graduated in Law. My mother wasn’t the first one in her family to go to university, my grandmother was, where she studied Pedagogy, and she is the reason we have this close relationship to education. My mother’s career is an example of plurality: she has a Bachelor’s in Architecture, a specialization and a Master’s degree in Chemistry, a Doctorate in Civil Engineering and, a post-doctorate in Immaterial Heritage. This is an entirely non-linear path, even though she followed an academic career.

“WHEN I WAS BURNT OUT I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE. I LEARNED HOW TO RESPECT MY OWN LIMITS AND UNDERSTAND THAT HOURS SPENT WORKING ARE NOT NECESSARILY HOURS SPENT PRODUCTIVELY” own path to leadership or augment it exponentially. I co-directed the programme for two years but decided to go back to my studies, and because of the demands of [my studies at] Dom Cabral I had to stop. I talked to Luiza and she asked me not to leave so I only stepped down from the committee, but remain as a member of the Mulheres do Brasil.

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Today you are considered one of the most influential executives in Brazil and your trajectory has been an inspiration to many women. What challenges have you faced until you were able to arrive at the place you are in now and how did you deal with them?

LL: I have always had good mentors.

That is why I always say that we should respect those who came before us, because they helped pave the way for us, and helped me become who I am.

The challenges are many. There is an issue of age when it comes to certain roles. I hear that a lot. 30 year olds, like myself, ask how they were able to become board members while others, who were older, were not. Another challenge is the fear of novelty, and finally the challenge of having become a public figure. That wasn’t planned, and very difficult. I still feel unable to assimilate it. I am challenged to hold on to my essence at the same time as I must continue my journey. As one takes their next steps, the more you know the harder it becomes to walk uphill, and it becomes lonelier too. When you are at the beginning of your career the movement is intense and quick.

However, when you want to make the step from manager to director, the road is a longer one. You need to grow a thicker hide and that takes time.

Since I am a public figure everyone is paying attention to my next steps and whatever change I make whether in role or company it will cause an impact within the industry. When I moved from Microsoft to Google, I moved for my own happiness’ sake, that’s not to say that I was sad. I want to influence people positively. Another great challenge is

to always be aware of burnout. It is something serious because our whole society works a lot; I myself don’t have a limit, especially when I work on what I love, then, I really go overboard. If I work full-time for Google from 9:00 to 18:00 and I still want to do other things I need to wake up earlier and sleep later. Physical exercise helps me tune out of work, and that is necessary. [One must] understand the time work ends. I want to balance these things to have a long, healthy, happy life, with family, and children.

Preferably in a big house on the seaside.

What advice would you give to women who aim to achieve successful careers?

LL: The first is to surround yourself with people who are more intelligent than yourself (intelligence is not only about their degree or their position).

Sometimes people with the least qualifications can be the most wise. I have always tried to work with people who were more excellent than I was.

I enjoy working for someone who inspires me, that is one of my values.

The second, which helped me a lot, is to nominate people for positions without expecting something in return. If I really want to transform the marketplace, we must give people opportunities. I am not a consultant, but I have excellent contacts, and being able to make those connections helped me a lot. Third, I listened to Luiza Trajano, who said that we are only as great as how much we share. We have left a time of command and control where companies knew everything, to a time in which we are learning and so are companies. We must always be on alert to learn from all that surrounds us, mainly our mistakes.

When I was burnt out I thought I was going to die. I learned how to respect my own limits and understand that hours spent working are not necessarily hours spent productively. Another tip is to respect your values at all times.

There is no use in working for a company that doesn’t share your values.

Whether it may be issues related to the environment, diversity, or the way

they work collectively and how they manage hierarchy. If it doesn’t fit your convictions, be sure to have an unhappy life. Many ask me for professional advice as they change companies, I’ll say, “First of all don’t be hasty” and afterward “think about values. Do not choose the job just because it pays well.” My mentor always told me: it isn’t a sprint, it is a marathon.

So, there is no need to be in a hurry because a career is built in the long term.

I am living today, but already thinking twenty years ahead. When I thought about [my NGO] Conselheira 101, I was thinking ten years ahead, because the average age of a board member is 45 to 50 years of age. The problem was that it started working out too quickly. So when people ask me that question “where do you see yourself in five, ten, fifteen years?” [I say] it’s not about the position, it’s about the journey. That is why I always think long term, but with allowances for some short term changes.

You say you are driven by challenges.

What are your next professional projects, have you already planned anything?

LL: Before the pandemic, I would have said yes, but Covid has really changed all my plans. My husband and I were planning an international journey, our first choice being the USA. But because of family issues, I decided to take a few steps back and remain in Brazil a while longer, and afterward who knows, we may go to the United States. At some point, I want to work or have a project in China.

I enjoyed working with partner management and therefore, in some way, I want to maintain contact with clients. At the moment my plan is: to finish the governance course I am enrolled in by the end of the year, my specialization at Dom Cabral finished in July, and next year I plan on getting certified by the IBGC for board member roles (because usually my terms are mostly served on advisory boards and only in managerial committees). I want to be really prepared because today

COVER INTERVIEW – LISIANE LEMOS And how about personal projects?

LL: At the moment I am in love with sports, and I joke on my social media by saying that I am an aspiring fitness icon. But it truly is only a joke. I still am passionate about learning, and I am currently learning how to fight and how to play racket sports. I plan on continuing the work I started with Conselheira 101 for a few more years, support new teams, and wait for places to reopen and people to get

vaccinated, so I can see my family and hug those whom I love. That has been the greatest lesson for me: having had the opportunity to tell people that we appreciate them. Personally, after the pandemic, I intend to take a year long break from my studies, because this year has been very intense and I want to travel more. I want to go to Angola.

I took a DNA test and discovered that I am 40% indigenous Angolan, and now I want to experience it, to feel where I am from.

What do you usually do when you are not working or influencing people?

LL: I like watching cooking shows with my husband because he is a cook, and we love watching foreign programs.

I read extensively and I adore wishywashy romantic novels to rest my mind and to not have to think, and I enjoy drinking mate [tea] with my parents.

Since our houses are close by I leave the gym and go to my mother-in-law’s house to steal a cup of coffee and then go to my parents’ place. I like this kind of interaction, I very much enjoy staying at home and being with family.

I really like pagode [music]. If we were not in a pandemic… The first thing I will do when everything reopens is to throw a party for myself, with lots of pagode. My family really enjoys parties.

The last time we did that was just before the pandemic started, on my dad’s 60th birthday. I convinced him to hold the celebrations on a day that I was available because I had already planned a trip to Las Vegas. So, I made reservations for a venue, I paid for a band, and a caterer all on the day that I would be available, March 14th, 2020. We had the party on Saturday and the lockdown started on Monday.

Ever since then I still haven’t even gone back to São Paulo.

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when I sit at these board meetings I see how much I am able to actually collaborate. With my technological vision through the lens of digital transformation that all industries and all people can benefit from. I should go along the route of being on advisory boards, following an executive career at the same time, trying to balance both of those things.

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ENTREVISTA COVER INTERVIEW DE CAPA – LISIANE LEMOS

CONSELHEIRA 101: FOR THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN OF COLOR ON MANAGERIAL BOARDS

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“This project was a calling amidst the pandemic. So much so, that I haven’t met most of the cofounders in person to this day. I started getting involved in corporate governance, in order to maintain relationships and become a C-level officer [a term used to refer to the higher level senior executive jobs like CEO, CFO, and CMO], it is something I want and I always look for people with more experience to help me along this path. Once I saw that there wasn’t anyone really, besides Rachel Maia, who is my friend, I thought if I don’t have these connections how can we make them? And that is how these conversations started, we counted on the participation of many non-black women, who were also aware of this issue. We joined forces and created Conselheiras, one of the most incredible things I have ever done in my life. I can see many points of transformation. Starting with the meetings, with so much female participation and afterward being able to follow each of their victories and their promotions.

Vania Neves became CTO at Vale; Patricia Garrido began working in marketing at Nu bank; Cristiane Neves was promoted to Latam manager; Suellen Rodrigues became director in the same company. By celebrating people’s achievements you encourage them to want more.

Finally, we actually managed to place women on financial, auditing, and advisory boards, providing companies, which needed technical added guidance, and at the same time bring a breadth of diversity to these board meetings. We’ve already had our first team of graduates and are about to have our second. The women who apply go through some conversations guided by market experts. We have a ‘gold map’ of their journey from basic to advanced governance. From family business, auditing committees, innovation among others, and we bring senior professionals to talk to us. Leila Loria, who is the president of the Managerial Board of the IBGC [The Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance] is also our co-founder. We also brought Maria Silvia Bastos, who is the pope of corporate governance and is the president of the How Mark Channel in the USA. She also happens to be a black board member, who gives us much to talk about and be inspired by. It is a model startup, and we will keep on going and see where it leads.”

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ast year in the midst of the pandemic, Lisiane Lemos launched the Conselheira 101, a programme that acts as an incentive for the placement of women of color on managerial boards. The name of the project gives us certain clues as to their objectives: it refers to the beginning of a journey since the number 101 is commonly used in academia to denote the most fundamental class of any given course. Lisiane told us more about her inspiration and what led her to create this programme and how it has been developing:

By Maurício Oliveira Photos: Reinaldo Borges

EDUCATION A CHAPEL SCHOOL THAT LEAVES A MARK STUDENT FOR 13 YEARS,

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BUSINESSWOMAN AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR FABI SAAD TELLS US HOW THIS EXPERIENCE WAS INSTRUMENTAL FOR HER PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE

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ho would Fabiana Saad Niemeyer be if she hadn’t studied at Chapel School? “Certainly a very different person than I am today. I feel Chapel’s influence in all areas of my life,” says the social entrepreneur and multifaceted businesswoman – who, at age 36, has a series of achievements in various activities.

Suffice it to say that it was at Chapel that Fabi met her husband, Felipe Niemeyer, her business partner, Natalie Feller, and several of her closest friends. It is also from her school days that she acquired her taste for sports, which continue to play an important role in her adult life. Enrolled from 1990 until 2002, from age five to 17, Fabi attributes several other aspects to her time at Chapel: daily use of the English language, the value of teamwork, the ability to express herself orally, dedication to continuous learning, the concern for participating in social projects, and the awareness of the importance of giving.

A Growing Movement

Fabi is the founder of the movement Mulheres Positivas, whose starting point was the column she wrote with Lelê Saddi on the “We Pick” website. After that, she released her first books: first came Empreendedoras. Coaching – Dicas de mulheres

ALUMNUS INTERVIEW – FABI SAAD The movement includes a program that Fabi coordinates and presents on radio Jovem Pan, with the purpose of highlighting women who can inspire other women, with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Before that, she worked at Forbes, Estadão, and BandNews.

also expanding in Italian and English – Positive Women is based in New York and should arrive in England soon.

With the goal of providing development opportunities to women of all social classes, the businesswoman developed together with the São Paulo state government the SOS Mulher project, based on the pillars of safety, health, and financial independence. Specifically geared towards women in vulnerable situations in the C, D, and E social classes, the project includes testimonies from police chiefs, lawyers, judges, doctors, psychologists, economists, and other professionals who help develop the content.

In addition to the radio program, the product portfolio includes a podcast, also on Jovem Pan, presented by her colleague Natalie, and the app – which, in addition to being launched in Brazil with Vivo and TIM, has already been made available in Mexico with Telcel and Claro Colombia with the title Mujeres Positivas. The movement is

Intense Activity

“If my aim is to help women develop and grow, it is impossible to focus only on the elite social classes. It is evident that I also need to work very hard with the base of the pyramid,” assesses Fabi. “The pleasure in helping others, and the need to do so in an unequal

society like the one in Brazil, are feelings that are instilled in all that pass through Chapel,” she adds.

Another volunteer activity in which the entrepreneur participates is the Associação de Resgate à Cidadania por Amor à Humanidade (Arcah), which she has been involved with for almost 10 years. The institution provides means to recover citizenship for individuals in situations of marginalization, through education projects, professional training, and insertion in the labor market.

Fabi balances all these projects with her intense professional activity as an executive at Media Bridge, where she coordinates the development of products for telephone companies, as well as apps and ondemand content on a wide range of topics – serving clients such as BandNews, BandSports, TerraViva, and AgroMais. She is also founder of

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inspiradoras que estão no comando de sua carreira, followed by Mulheres Positivas, written in partnership with Fernanda Médici. “These are the stories of 21 women who inspired me to learn more about the so-called ‘sector two and a half’ and to understand what it means to be a social entrepreneur,” Fabi recalls.

the startup Home IT, which generates content in the areas of design, home decoration, and lifestyle.

Teamwork

To cope with such a busy schedule, which includes taking care of the family – the couple has two children, Luca and Eduardo – Fabi’s number one rule is to constantly exercise discipline. “I’m very careful with how I use my time. I learned to focus only on what’s really important and to delegate everything that can be delegated,” she says.

Everyday life demands a lot of energy, something Fabi finds in sports. She plays volleyball on Mondays, soccer on Tuesdays, and practices tennis and horseback riding on weekends. Once a year she also goes on a ski trip. This passion for physical activities is another legacy from Chapel days, when the young woman played on the volleyball, soccer, and softball teams.

“Playing sports showed me the

importance of teamwork, something that I certainly apply in my professional activities today,” she says. According to Fabi, this concern with the collective is a striking feature of Chapel graduates. “It’s not just me. I realize that this is something that sets Chapel alumni apart.” Fabi’s fondest memories of her days at Chapel involve the Big 4 and Little 8 championships, which often included trips to other cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and Brasília.

Project for the Decade

Another pillar of Fabi Saad’s lifestyle is continuous learning; she hasn’t stopped studying since leaving Chapel. She began with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (Faap), then got a Master’s degree in Marketing at the Italian campus of the European School of Economics, and also earned a specialization in finance at the Escola Superior de Propaganda e

Marketing (ESPM). In 2013, she signed up for an MBA at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, which she completed in 2015.

She also took courses at institutions like HyperIsland and St. Martins College, in London, on e-commerce, social media, and digital marketing. She participated in the Women Leadership Program, at Oxford, with leaders from different parts of the world. “As the world and market evolve all the time, it is essential to understand the direction things are taking and stay up to date,” says Fabi.

When looking to the future, the social entrepreneur finds herself increasingly involved in her current mission: “I want to continue fighting for Brazilian women, so that they can live a dignified life, with safety, health, and opportunities. The focus is to contribute to their personal and professional development, through training,” she explains.

SHARED INSPIRATION Fabi Saad’s books reinforce her connection with women’s themes.

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abi Saad has always taken interest in stories of women taking charge of their own lives. Because of this, she decided to write the book Empreendedoras. Coaching – Dicas de mulheres inspiradoras que estão no comando de sua carreira, her literary debut.

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Subsequently, Fabi joined social entrepreneur Fernanda Médici to address another profile that has always interested her, that of women who act effectively to transform and improve the world. That is how the book Mulheres Positivas was born in 2017. The book tells the stories of women such as Alexandra Loras, former French consul in São Paulo, who is dedicated to issues related to racism and the empowerment of black women; Leona Forman, founder and president of the Brazil Foundation, an institution that seeks investments in the United States for social projects in Brazil; Carol Celico, founder of the NGO Amor Horizontal, which provides support and care for children and youth in partner social projects; and Dagmar Rivieri, Tia Dag, founder and president of Casa do Zezinho, which for nearly thirty years has been carrying out social work in Capão Redondo, one of the poorest regions in the city of São Paulo.

The book became the starting point of the movement with the same name, which expanded to include various products that have extended beyond Brazilian borders. Continuing her literary production, Fabi collaborated with Rachel Polito at the start of the year to launch her third book addressing the female theme: Mais do que mulher-maravilha... Mulher real!, a part of the literary series “Mulheres fora de série.” Fabi says that “the idea is to show that every woman can and should take the lead in her life.”

This series was conceived to treat themes such as entrepreneurship, time management, well-being, longevity, and success in a light and simple manner.

ALUMNUS INTERVIEW – FABI SAAD 33 INSIDECHAPEL

“THE PLEASURE IN HELPING OTHERS, AND THE NEED TO DO SO IN AN UNEQUAL SOCIETY LIKE THE ONE IN BRAZIL, ARE FEELINGS THAT ARE INSTILLED IN ALL THAT PASS THROUGH CHAPEL”

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CRÔNICA – ANA PAULA HENKEL

By Ana Paula Henkel Photos: Personal Archive

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STRONG WOMEN DON’T DEMONIZE MEN

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t is an honor to be invited to write for this special edition about women.

We live in humanity’s greatest era of freedom, when we can be whatever we want to be. Women belong where they want to belong: in engineering rooms or in hospitals, in spaceships as astronauts or at home as mothers and wives, dedicated to their families.

We have so much to celebrate! In this edition dedicated to women, as odd as it may seem, I have come to speak out in defence of men. It becomes clearer every day that contemporary feminism harbors more anger towards men than love for women, and this is worrying. This not only weakens good and dignified men, but it weakens the righteous women’s agenda. It weakens our future.

Both boys and girls, obviously, have virtues and flaws, and it’s up to all of us, as always, to showcase the best examples, to educate, to discipline, to set limits, and to guide. I will always stand up for wonderful and honorable men like my father, my husband, my son, and my close friends. We are a team: at home, in the workplace, and in society. We need one another. Strong men, who wisely align themselves with strong women, are too busy to respond

to narratives of certain elites, who are detached from reality, living in a selfabsorbed world where they feel the need to demonize all men as a form of virtue-signaling.

What these people fail to realize is that demonizing all men in order to “elevate” women ends up making life easier for the rapists, harassers, and aggressors. These, for their part, may claim that they are “just like any other man” and disappear into the crowd. If abusive behavior of such vile “patriarchy” becomes normalized, how do we condemn criminal, misogynistic, or even violent acts committed by the real demons of our society? They would just be “men being men” in the perverse and perverted logic of radical feminism, which prefers cheap applause to honest intellectual debate.

This extremist and thoughtless behavior has pushed society into a collectivist trance, where some men feel the need to apologize for the sins of others, for historical wrongdoings, whatever they may have been, and even ask forgiveness for the future. In a society where individual action and responsibility become secondary, where everything

is seen as collective, chauvinism and masculinity become one and the same.

Instead of vilifying masculinity, it is necessary to reinforce the historical role of men in protecting women and the home, in partnership to raise and care for children, and in professional support in pursuit of our dreams. We cannot let them be used as ideological straw men to quell the rage of a half-dozen crazy and confused activists.

The world being what it is, there are rapists, harassers, and aggressors, and combating these crimes must involve the work of good and heroic men. A brief comparative study of different societies throughout history would be enough for anyone to conclude that we live in the freest time for women to work, study, raise children, and truly fulfill themselves in all the roles they dream of in society.

In 1984, during a celebration of the 40 year anniversary of American troops storming the beaches of Normandy in the Second World War, President Ronald Reagan gave a historic speech in the presence of some of the surviving U.S. Army Rangers: “You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with

CRÔNICA ESSAY – ANA PAULA HENKEL Do not hide. Never. That is masculinity, and, at the same time, protection.

Real men – and not the puppets of ideological agendas – are people that others can count on, whether that means simply doing what they said they would or being in the right place at the right time. Being a man means being consistent. Anyone can do things right once in a while, and chances are, if you look at the men you admire the most, they’ve all earned your respect and trust through consistency.

And this great generation that saved the world from the axis of Nazi-Fascism more than seven decades ago was composed of true heros – in thought and action, in strength and in the capacity to sacrifice everything for others. Remembering G.K.

Chesterton, they were young men not moved by hatred of what was in front of them, but by love for the ones they left behind. Strong men and women unite to defend the values that are important to both. Trying to silence or eliminate one side does not strengthen the other. Strong men and women do not fight each other, or enter into hollow competition that only fills silly minds that want to preach the stupid idea that men are “defective women,” and that it is enough to “castrate” them, and make them apologize for the sins of all bad men so they can be docile, obedient, and respectful.

Here I leave my appreciation and affection for all the men who are unfairly framed in hypocritical, divisive speeches made only to reinforce the stupid and useless narrative of “Women vs. Men.” Fathers, brothers, coaches, teachers. I also feel for men who, in the absence of consistency, manliness, humility, and partnership, need to feign historical regret that, in fact, is nothing more than a look in the mirror to feed their own ego.

I have few certainties in life, but I would dare to say that this is one: I speak on behalf of many women who are grateful for the good men who have

fought alongside determined women for centuries to create a freer and safer world for everyone.

It is hard to understand the ingratitude of some women who choose to demonize all men and relativize crimes in other cultures, where women have no voice in society. At the same time, they do not recognize the power of good men, who nurture the companionship, protection, consistency, and humility that encompass masculinity, which is essential for an integrated and well-structured society.

They were good men who fought for freedom and created laws to prohibit the crimes that supposedly bother the most radical feminists. These men are the rule, not the exception. A strong society – made up of strong women, as well – is not built by portraying men as enemies to be defeated. Strong women don’t belittle men just for being men. Strong women fight evil individuals. Strong women fight lies, not putting the collectivist ideology above our real desires and personal growth, and pave the future with the help of reputable and upstanding men.

A kingdom built solely on the hysteria of the demonization of the opposite sex is a kingdom made of sandcastles.

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the deepest joys of life before you.

Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? ….We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.” Why hide or even try to vilify this heroic trait in these men just for a feminist agenda? What they did for us is strength. That’s character. They did not hide, and they led us to an era of unprecedented freedom.

SPOTLIGHT

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EDUCATION IS THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON WHICH YOU CAN USE TO CHANGE THE WORLD - NELSON MANDELA

CHAPEL STUDENTS UNDERTAKE SERVICE PROJECTS

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hapel students have become increasingly involved in service projects, putting initiatives into practice to promote solidarity, especially during the pandemic. Here are some of the projects led by the students and the motivations behind them.

SPOTLIGHT

SCHOOL-WIDE INVOLVEMENT WITH “MI CASA, TU CASA” opportunity. Furthermore, I was very excited to implement the letter exchange with the refugees, as I knew that the letters from Chapel students would be beautiful and affectionate, and would promote a special connection between us and the children in the shelters,” she says.

João Pedro reveals the next steps: “The third initiative of the project is to raise money to send the books to Roraima and purchase material for the construction of library shelves in the shelters, which will be made by the refugee adults themselves.” For Beatriz, the project caught her attention because its goal was to collect books, which she loves, and also because it was a great opportunity to learn more about the Brazilian government’s Operação Acolhida. “I grew up loving to read, and I wanted to help give these kids the same

Beatriz celebrates the support the project received at Chapel: “I was very moved by the involvement of both the teachers and coordinators, as well as the students. When I met elementary kids in the hallways, they would always tell me excitedly that they were already writing their letters. I was very happy to see that the project brought a transformative energy to the school.”

Alma adds, “I felt very happy to be part of a project with such a social impact and I was able to see that when people come together, we can make a difference”.

The Chapel students commented that they learned a lot from the action: “This project made me reflect on how important it is to be informed about what is happening in the world, because before this I did not know that there was a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and that Brazil was helping the refugees to have new hope,” says Alma. For João Pedro, the project was a great opportunity for personal growth: “It showed me a very different side of the world. I learned that we are privileged young people, because we have a great life, with health, education, friends, and family who are always by our side. To participate in the lives of these children and youth with books and letters is a way to help them cope with the difficulties, providing a bit of joy.”

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reated by the founder of the newspaper Joca, Stephanie Habrich, in partnership with the UNHCR (UN agency for refugees) and the NGO Hands On Human Rights, “Mi Casa, Tu Casa” aims to collect books and build bilingual libraries (Portuguese and Spanish) inside refugee shelters in Roraima, in northern Brazil. Additionally, the project promotes the exchange of letters between Brazilian students and the Venezuelan children who live there. Ninth grader Alma Castañares was responsible for bringing the project to Chapel. Together with her classmates, João Pedro Fegyveres and Beatriz Abram, they managed to involve the entire school in an impressive campaign of solidarity. “In addition to stimulating reading and literary training, books represent a welcoming gesture, a way to open up other universes, dreams, and thoughts beyond the closed world of shelters. Thanks to the participation of schools from different regions of Brazil, we managed to collect more than 31,700 books, and Chapel was one of the most committed,” says Alma.

KONFEITARIA KOKUDAI BROADENS ITS CHARITABLE ASPECT DURING THE PANDEMIC

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isters Isabela and Mariana Kokudai’s small business selling cakes, desserts, and sweets has always been focused on reaching customers in a unique way and with a special touch. “During the pandemic, when KK became bigger, we started to help different institutions that assist people in vulnerable situations, which gave an even greater purpose to our production,” says Isabela. The sisters say that the confectionery project started spontaneously in 2018, but two years later, with the pandemic, the motivation to help other people in these difficult times brought more activity to the business: “Behind everything there is always the feeling of being grateful for what we have in our lives – school, home, family, and food. In addition, we have this culinary passion in our blood, as our paternal grandmother owns a bakery and bakes the best cakes in the world,” reveals Mariana.

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According to the sisters, Konfeitaria Kokudai drove them to become more upstanding citizens and better people. “It shows us the challenges that exist in the world of entrepreneurship, but it also makes us more resilient to mistakes and successes, closer to those who live in our city and, as sisters, closer partners in business and life,” says Isabela. With the increase in sales, they began to allocate part of their profits to social projects and institutions. “With this affection we have received, we have the opportunity to contribute to making the lives of people in difficult situations a little less challenging, whether by helping with the purchase of some food baskets or by providing hygiene products,” concludes Mariana.

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he idea of ​​creating the “Conectando pela Educação” project came after student Juliana Luz did an internship at the Joca newspaper and was inspired by the involvement in social work of the founder, Stephanie Habrich. “With her help, I connected with Julia Nicole, 12, a student at a public school in São Paulo, and started teaching her virtually every week,” says Juliana.

During the pandemic, the Chapel student realized that the support given helped Julia Nicole so much that she decided to extend it to other children. “That was when I thought that many people could connect in the same way through a platform,” she says.

SPOTLIGHT

“CONECTANDO PELA EDUCAÇÃO” PLATFORM OFFERS PRIVATE LESSONS

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“Conectando pela Educação” is a platform that offers support to public school students through online tutoring. The app connects volunteers to students who need help, and also promotes campaigns to donate teaching materials, internet chips and electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. “I believe that education is one of the most important values ​​we have in life, and it is precisely one of the investments our country needs in order to overcome inequality,” concludes Juliana.

“HELP THE HOMELESS UNITED” DONATES FOOD BASKETS WEEKLY IN SÃO PAULO

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ince February of this year, five Chapel students have dedicated their hours of extracurricular activities on Mondays to producing 150 food kits and distributing them to homeless people in downtown São Paulo. Chapel friends Theo Guimarães, Antonio Rangel, Cezario Caram, João Arantes, and Rafael Seabra had the idea of creating ​​ “Help The Homeless United” after the death of Theo’s uncle, Eduardo Moreno, who had been distributing food to the homeless for thirty years. “This project was started years ago by my uncle, and after his death we felt obliged to continue the initiative. I have a group of nice friends at Chapel, so I decided to call them and they all accepted,” says Theo. The group also includes the participation of colleague Manuela Oliveira, who studies at St. Paul’s school. The kits delivered weekly – from February to June, the group donated more than 3,000 – include lunch boxes, soup, clothes, and blankets, all acquired through donations. Recently, the project started to accept cash contributions, and 100% of the amount raised goes to the cause.

The group’s greatest motivation for creating the project were the problems caused by the current health crisis: “With the pandemic, many people lost their jobs and were unable to support themselves, which caused a drastic increase in the

number of homeless people in São Paulo. After seeing how delicate the situation was, we got together and decided to fight this problem,” explains Theo. For the others involved, the project has provided a great opportunity for personal growth: “HTH United brought me the true experience of fighting for a cause and helping those who need it most. The simple fact of having a hot soup at night, for us, may not be so important, but for those who really need it, it means a lot, and it’s enough to put a beautiful smile on your face,” says Antonio. His friend Rafael agrees: “The project made me more open to helping people in my daily life, and I learned how this simple act can really help a person having a difficult day.” Cezario comments that the initiative teaches him, weekly, how small actions can generate big results: “It is exciting to see how our project really affects people and helps those who are forgotten by society.”

For João, these last months participating in HTHU made him reflect on the situation of people facing social vulnerability. “I saw this opportunity to give others some of what I’ve always had; it is extremely important that we take care of the less fortunate,” he says. Anyone who wants to know about this initiative can follow it on Instagram, where photos of the preparation of food and its distribution routine are posted.

“Through the @hthunited profile anyone can interact, monitor, and help our project,” concludes Theo.

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agerly awaited by the school community, Chapel’s Fifth Music Recital video was officially released at 7pm on June 8th, featuring a countdown and presentation by the elementary principal, Ms. Juliana Menezes. “The idea was for everyone to watch at the same time, and it was exciting to know that we were watching it together, even though each one was at home,” celebrates Roberta Braga, head of the Music Department and organizer of the recital. According to music teacher Caio Oliveira, the digital version managed to capture part of the emotion of the in-person event: “The countdown recovered some of the anxiety of the live performance, when we were waiting for the curtains to open.”

SPOTLIGHT

MUSIC RECITAL CELEBRATES THE MAGIC OF ANIMATED FILMS

Chosen by the students, the theme of the recital was “Animated Films,” and each grade (4th, 5th, and 6th) sang one song and performed another on the xylophone. All recordings were carried out individually, then meticulously edited to unite all the voices and instruments. Ms. Braga says that, for the students, it was a surprise, as they had not seen the video before the release, and did not know how it would appear on screen. “It was worth it for us to be so detailed in putting together the event, since the result was very professional,” the teacher says proudly.

The 4th graders opened the video by singing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” from Toy Story, and then playing “Heigh-Ho,” from the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, on the xylophone. Interspersed with comments from principal Juliana Menezes, the presentations continued with the 5th grade groups, who played the friendly “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” from Cinderella, on the xylophone, and then sang “Accidentally in Love,” from Shrek. Closing the recital, the 6th graders played “Under the Sea,” from the movie The Little Mermaid, and finally sang “I’m Still Standing,” from Sing.

Scan the QR Code to watch the Fifth Chapel Music Recital video.

Instagram

Youtube

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“The music recital makes the learning expectations of each level very visible, showing how much we can do with the xylophone; in other words, the presentation shows how the complexity of this instrument increases each year”, celebrates Ms. Braga. In addition to showing the children’s development in the music program, the video version of the recital allowed everyone to watch each other, which is not always possible in face-to-face performances. “In live performances, while one class is on stage, the others are backstage waiting for their turn to enter,” comments Mr. Oliveira. “Another feature of this edition was that, for the first time, the two groups from each grade played and sang together, unlike the face-to-face show, in which each group plays and sings different songs,” he adds.

CHAPEL PROMOTES LECTURES BY LEO FRAIMAN TO FAMILIES

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n order to support and welcome families during the pandemic, Chapel held two lectures with psychologist Leo Fraiman, a specialist in professional and family guidance. In webinar format, the conferences took place in April and May, and were mediated by the principals and educational counselors, who organized the parents’ questions at the end of each session.

“How to maintain emotional balance in times of crisis” was the theme of the first meeting, which took place on April 28th. According to Fraiman, minor adjustments in the way we organize daily life can make a huge difference to our mental and emotional health, impacting our production and, even more, our happiness. The psychologist says that everything passes through the lens with which we see the world, which is the way we face problems, especially in times of a pandemic, where pessimism prevails. “We can’t always have the best, but we can always do the best with what we have,” said Fraiman, summarizing the key idea of the ​​ talk.

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In May, the psychologist returned to talk with the families, this time to discuss human relationships and building happiness. At the time, he addressed the sustainability of human relationships, questioning the impact they have on families. After all, much of health, academic achievement, happiness, and success comes from the ability to deal with oneself and others. According to the expert, it is important

that homes are familiar and warm places where people feel good. Considering that there is no time in history that is only shadow – or only light – it is only human to idealize a future in which everything can be resolved. However, what actually exists is the present time, the now, and, in this sense, no extreme is healthy: neither utopian idealization nor compulsory pessimism.

According to Erika Ferreira, educational counselor for 4th to 9th grade, Leo Fraiman’s lectures provided important reflections, strengthening Chapel’s pedagogical discourse: “The parents were very eager to hear guidance of this nature.

As much as they appreciate what the school offers on a daily basis, it is important to hear from another professional that corroborates our educational practice.” Cristiana Cavalcanti, educational counselor for ECEC to 3rd grade, agrees and emphasizes the importance of events of this nature precisely at this time of pandemic, in which chances to gather as a community are very welcome: “For families, social distancing has transformed their children’s education into a task that is even lonelier than it was before. In this sense, it was a comfort to hear Leo Fraiman remind us that the way we face reality makes a lot of difference and reflects on the children, on the atmosphere of the house; and how important it is to make the house a space for socializing and exchange, where everyone wants to be and belong.”

SPOTLIGHT

EVENT FOR HS STUDENTS HONORS WOMEN SCIENTISTS

de São Paulo; and Mariana Avezum, former Chapel student, Master in Computer Science and an engineer at Tesla Motors, an American company specializing in high-performance electric cars.

And innovation was not lacking in the programming “Girls in STEAM,” which had the participation of five speakers, in two simultaneous sessions, mediated by educational counselors Erika Ferreira and Marta Bidoli. The session aimed at students from 7th to 9th grade was mediated by Ms. Ferreira and had three speakers: Tatiana Yoshida, specialist in sustainable energy and founder of the “Drone Like a Girl” movement, which encourages female participation in the drone sector; Diana Roque, microorganism researcher and organizer of projects such as “Diving in Science,” which aims to bring girls closer to science; and Maria Inês Ribas, who has a Ph.D. in Teaching of Science and Mathematics and is the creator and coordinator of the “Projeto Menina Ciência - Ciência Menina,” which aims to minimize the gender gap in science.

The other session, mediated by Ms. Bidoli, was aimed at 10th and 11th grade students and brought together two scientists: doctor in Physiology Marilia Seeleander, head of the Laboratório de Cirurgia Experimental at Hospital das Clínicas

During the roundtables, the guests talked about their education, their professional work and their ongoing research.

After each presentation, there was a question session led by the students, who were very excited about the presentations.

“Students really took advantage of the chance to talk to the external researchers who took part in the roundtable, and they asked the guests several questions,” comments Ms. Ferreira.

After the meeting, the guidance team conducted a survey with students and teachers to measure their approval, and the results were positive: “In general, everyone liked it a lot and gave suggestions for the next events. The students really enjoyed listening to the scientists and requested, for future sessions, more time to ask questions,” evaluates Ms. Ferreira.

For her, the most important aspect was the school’s interaction with the scientific community: “Events of this nature show how students value bringing the real world into the school, and how important it is for us to provide them with a meeting with these professionals,” she concludes.

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uring the month of March, to celebrate International Women’s Day, Chapel invited women scientists to a roundtable discussion with students from 7th to 11th grades. The “Girls in STEAM” event took place on March 11 and deepened the reflection by high school students regarding the representation of women in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. After all, UNESCO estimates indicate that women represent less than 30% of the scientists in the world. According to UN secretary general, António Guterres, it is essential to promote gender equality in the scientific world so that it is recognized, once and for all, that more diversity promotes more innovation.

By supporting Casa do Zezinho with less than R$1 per day, you can help maintain our feeding programmes, education and help build bridges for the future of 1,300 children, teenagers, and families in Capão Redondo, one of the most populous regions in São Paulo as well as one of the poorest and most violent.

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27 years ago the Casa do Zezinho was founded by Dagmar Riveiri, known as Tia Dag, fulfilling her dream of bringing education to the city’s poorest. We offer more than 40 different workshops and activities for the local children, in addition to 500,000 meals served and 20,000 food baskets delivered annually to the families in the community. contato@casadozezinho.org.br | 11 5818-0878 | www.casadozezinho.org.br

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TALENTS & PASSIONS

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or this edition of Inside Chapel, we have invited students who have excelled in sports like sailing, horseback riding, and soccer, as well as those who have shone brightly in student council (StuCo), National Honor Society (NHS), and Model United Nations (MUN), to share their experiences. Read the pages that follow to get to know our students better.

“IT WAS BY JOINING STUCO AND NHS THAT I REALLY FELT A PART OF THE CHAPEL COMMUNITY”

PEDRO LOUREIRO POSITIVE EXPERIENCE When you see Pedro Loureiro at Chapel, constantly interacting with his classmates, teachers, and staff, organizing student council events, leading the school’s honor society, and performing in school plays, you would think he had been here his whole life. But that’s not the case. He enrolled in 9th grade, just after returning from an exchange program in the United States, where he was impressed by the university system. His desire to study Biochemistry or Medicine abroad led him to seek out schools with an American curriculum, and Chapel won him over. “When I arrived on this beautiful campus, I fell in love with this place – with the classrooms, with the people – it is truly a pleasure to come to school, even living a ways away,” he says.

Although he made friends easily, and felt a warm welcome, Pedro still wanted more: “The idea of joining a group of students dedicated to improving the school community really appealed to me, so I thought that joining StuCo would be the best way for me to fit in.” And he was right. At the start of 10th grade, he joined not only StuCO, but also Drama Club, Math Club, and NHS, the school’s honors society, of which he is now president. His intellectual curiosity even led him to create a club surrounding the History of Science, which lasted a year. The now 12th grade student also enjoys volunteer work and event organization, and he particularly enjoys creating games and activities that involve the entire school community.

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With these skills it is no wonder he decided to run for student council President, and he was elected by a majority of the student body. As StuCo president he has many goals, but his main focus will be bringing together the school community: “I plan to promote projects that develop a connection among students.

I want to build on the welcome I received, and give all new students the same positive experiences that I enjoyed,” he concludes.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

“IN SAILING, WHAT I LIKE MOST IS COMPETING. EVERYTHING HAPPENS VERY QUICKLY, AND IN SECONDS YOU COULD WIN OR LOSE”

MATHIAS REIMER COMPETITIVE SAILING Mathias Reimer was only 7 years old when he joined the Escola de Vela of Yacht Club Santo Amaro (YCSA), along with his two older sisters. Within a few years, he participated in his first team regatas and became more and more enamored with the sport. Today, at 17, he trains five days a week and has racked up several victories in the Laser Radial category. In 2020, even with the pandemic leading to the cancellation of several competitions, including the Mundial da Juventude, Mathias was the champion of the Copa da Juventude in the Laser Radial category and runner-up in the Campeonato Brasileiro de Laser Standard in the under-19 and under-17 categories. “Winning the Copa da Juventude would have guaranteed me a spot in the Mundial da Juventude, but since it was cancelled, I am participating in the selection process again to try to qualify for the next one,” he explains.

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An 11th grader, Mathias joined Chapel two years ago. He balances school activities with his training at YCSA and competitions, which usually take place on weekends and school holidays. Mathias, who intends to go to college and continue with competitive sailing in the United States, said that he is dedicated to excelling in all of the competitions: “For me, it comes naturally. As long as I can reconcile sailing and school work, I intend to continue dedicating myself to doing my best in all of the competitions.” In addition to training at the Yacht Club, he often travels to Ilha Bela, on the northern coast of São Paulo, because of the winds. Whenever possible, he and his team travel to the event sites to adjust to climatic conditions. Under normal circumstances, he would train or compete almost every weekend, and at the end of each semester he would leave São Paulo to compete in other events. “I really like to compete, which is what most attracted me to sailing. It’s a sport in which everything happens fast, and you need to stay 100% focused from start to finish, since conditions can change at any minute: when it’s bad, you can recover quickly, and when it’s good, you can also lose positions very quickly,” he concludes.

“MY PASSION FOR EQUESTRIANISM IS INDESCRIBABLE; I CAN’T PUT INTO WORDS THE LOVE I FEEL FOR THE SPORT AND FOR THE ANIMALS”

MARIA CLARA MAXIMIANO HORSEBACK RIDING FOR LIFE When asked about her passion for horseback riding, Maria Clara Maximiano, age 15, says that words cannot describe it: “It’s an indescribable passion, I can’t put into words how much love I feel for the sport and for these animals.” For her, the sport brings a unique set of emotions that only horseback riding can provide. Her passion began a little over three years ago, when she and her family lived in Brasília. “My sister did horseback riding, and I thought it was a beautiful sport, so I decided to give it a try,” she explains. At first, she just considered it a hobby, but once her family moved to São Paulo, Maria Clara started to take the sport more seriously. She intends to ride for the rest of her life, dedicating herself more and more.

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Responsible for four horses – one of which is enjoying retirement at the family farm – the 10th grader trains for two hours a day, from Tuesday to Sunday, at Clube Hípico de Santo Amaro, where her horses are stabled. On the weekends, when there is time to ride all three horses, she spends more time training. It is also on the weekends that the competitions take place, usually with the mare Nutreal Hillary Garden, her main horse.This past May, she came in third place at the sixth CSN (Concurso de Salto Nacional), held at the Clube Hípico de Santo Amaro, in the Jovem Cavaleiro A (1.10m) category.

Despite having already been a dressage champion when she lived in Brasília, Maria Clara says that today she is more dedicated to jumping, and that she prefers to participate in these competitions. However, what attracts her most to equestrianism are the friendships and daily lessons: “In this sport, we lose more often than we win, and we learn every day that not every session will be a good one, so we have to appreciate both the good days and the bad ones,” she affirms. When she is not dedicated to her studies or her horses, Maria Clara likes to go to the gym and play the piano, an instrument which she started playing at the age of 10 and has recently regained more of her attention. “I usually play for my family, since they ask to hear me play,” she concludes.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

“SOCCER HELPED ME MAKE FRIENDS AND FIT IN AT CHAPEL. IT’S A SPORT THAT CREATES LOTS OF FRIENDSHIPS”

LUCIA CASTELLANOS SERIOUS ABOUT SOCCER Born in Mexico, Lucia Castellanos spent most of her life in Columbia, where she studied at a bilingual school and learned to play soccer. “It was the sport that my friends played, so I decided to give it a try,” says the 15-year-old. Once she joined the school team, she started liking it more and discovered that she was an excellent player. When her family moved to Brazil, and Lucia enrolled at Chapel, she continued playing and is currently part of the girls Junior Varsity team, which represents the school in tournaments and exhibition games. She says that soccer helped her fit in at the school and led to many friendships: “Soccer helped me make friends at Chapel; I usually play with my friends during break, and that was an important part of my adaptation process.”

A 9th grader, Lucia plays as a midfielder, since one of her main skills is passing and following the movement of the game. Although she loves soccer, she considers it a hobby and has no aspirations of playing professionally. When participating in tournaments, her motivation is always the team: “Competition is great for teamwork, which is why I like it.” Before getting involved with soccer, she also played tennis for a long time and even did rhythmic gymnastics for a couple of years.

At Chapel, Lucia likes more than just sports; she also likes her teachers, who she considers “cool,” and the people “who are very friendly.” She added that “Chapel is a school that makes people learn a lot about values, respect, and honesty, and they also offer great support to anyone who needs it.”

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In her free time, she likes to hang out with her friends, to spend time with her sister, and to cook: “I like to bake cakes, and I’m learning to cook,” she shares.

“I INTEND TO PARTICIPATE IN MUN UNTIL UNIVERSITY. I LOVE TO RESEARCH AND DEFEND ALL SORTS OF TOPICS, AND I FEEL AT EASE AT THE CONFERENCES”

LORENZO PERROTTI MASTERFUL ORATOR It was his mother who suggested that Lorenzo Perroti join MUN (Model United Nations) at his school in Vienna, Austria, where he lived for two years. He joined while in 6th grade at AIS (American International School) and loved the experience: “I went to the library after school and loved researching all sorts of topics; I spent hours studying and loved every minute,” shares the 14-year-old. Upon returning to Brazil, the family chose Chapel because of some friends’ recommendations about the values and also the campus. “It is very similar to my school in Vienna. My family and I loved that it is such a big, open, and green space,” he comments.

As soon as he enrolled at Chapel in 7th grade, Lorenzo joined MUN and participated in his first conference. “It was a good experience; I felt comfortable in that environment and never felt out of place for being younger,” he affirms. He has participated in five conferences since then, improving his public speaking at each event. “I feel like I am always trying to do a little better than last time, which must have led to the award that I earned,” he modestly explains. He said that the environment also helped: “Since it was just Chapel students, I felt more comfortable speaking up.” However, his dedication also helped: “I spend a lot of time researching the topic I’m going to discuss and preparing my material, because I like to have ownership of whatever I’m talking about.” For him, the best part of the conferences are the debates.

He says, “That’s when we can discuss controversial issues and defend the position of our country, which is not always easy.”

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An extrovert, Lorenzo has been involved with theater at all of his previous schools, and he intends to join drama club soon to find inspiration. In his free time, he plays soccer, basketball, and especially enjoys TaeKwon-Do, which he has been doing for about a year. What he most likes about Chapel are his friends and the food. “It’s a great school, but the food is what really stands out,” he says with a smile.

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he induction ceremony for NHS and NJHS members, High School and Elementary School Spirit Week events, 6th grade Fun Day, and ECEC year-end activities were some of the events that marked the last semester at Chapel. On the pages that follow, check out photos of these festive moments for the school community.