Inside Chapel #24 English

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CHAPEL Issue 24 - February 2022 / ISSN 2527-2160

ACADEMIC TRADITION For three generations Lopes family members have studied at Chapel

(IM)PERFECT FAMILIES A short story by Mari Berrini

RAISING CHILDREN TODAY Vera Iaconelli talks about the challenges of parenting

FOND MEMORIES The reason Chapel’s sporting events champion good memories

ACTIVE PARENTING The writer and influencer Marcos Piangers inspires parents to bond with their children

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Engage.

Challenge.

Support.

Care.

Prepare students for life.

EDITORIAL

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

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ear readers of our Inside Chapel magazine, in this issue, the cover story is an inspiring article brought to us by Adriana Calabró. It portrays the life and testimony of Marcos Piangers, a married father of two daughters, who transformed his life story of a child who was raised without the presence of a father into a means to help other couples deal with an issue that has been so dear to our society.

Paula Veneroso brings us an engaging interview with psychotherapist Vera Iaconelli, who addresses different perspectives on issues related to being a family in today’s world. How to be one? How to constitute it? How to take care of it? Who is prepared for this? In a profound and thought-provoking way, the professional, who is a specialist in the subject, leads us to realize that the concept and breadth of family are much greater than we think.

In the section where we usually bring the story of former students, we did things a little differently this time, as we opened Chapel’s history archives and showed what few institutions like ours show: the story of a family who for three generations has carried out their school journey together with our Chapel family, covering a period of almost seventy years. A tradition that began with the grandmother was passed down to the three daughters and now continues with the experiences of the three grandchildren.

With regards to what Chapel offers in the sporting field, an article shows us that, at the moment, 70% of our students already practice some type of sport offered by our institution. And in order to be able to offer something of expressive quality, as with everything else we do, we have a super team, not to mention partnerships, as is the case with the NBA, the biggest and most famous basketball league in the world.

Next, we have a beautiful chronicle written by Mari Bernini, which makes us think a little about the true value we give people, and to what extent the technology available at our fingertips is good or not. In the Spotlight section, we discuss an innovative method of self-assessment adopted by Chapel, through which students themselves are led to think about their priorities for the semester, being evaluated during the course and seen in a more holistic way at the end, with the support of a competent team, always available to help.

And if you thought the news was over, you were wrong, because the Talents and Passions section also decided to innovate. Now, in addition to what our students produce which is beautiful and interesting, we will also bring, in each edition, a little bit of what our teachers like to do outside of the classroom environment. The first two stories we will read are very beautiful: one is teacher Elizabeth Noel-Morgan, who rescues and cares for abandoned animals; the other is of a teacher couple, Kahlie Graves and Érico Padilha, who cultivate a huge passion for visiting protected national parks in South America.

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We hope you like the changes that our magazine is bringing, and that reading these articles will have a very positive impact on your life and that of your family. Happy reading and may God, today and always, bless you!

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, Mari Bernini, Maurício Oliveira, and Paula Veneroso PHOTOS: Arquivo Chapel, Fernanda Caires, and Renato Parada 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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e are excited to share with you the 24th Edition of Inside Chapel. This edition explores the daily lives of families, our choices as we raise our children, and the importance of being responsive and present in our children’s lives. I would like to invite you to reflect on Chapel’s Guiding Statements, as our school is an extension of your home. When families decide to enroll their children at Chapel School, it’s because they believe and trust our Guiding Statements.

As Christians, we love God with our hearts, souls, and minds. At our homes, we teach our children the importance of the Gospel. The values taught inside our homes align with values developed at school. Through our teachings and the partnerships established with families concerning their child’s education, we hope that our students will learn to make informed decisions, own responsibility for personal actions and community needs, and respect life and cultural diversity. Referring and bringing to life Chapel’s Mission Statement both at home and at school will undoubtedly ensure Chapel’s Shared Vision Statement in which we “Engage.

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

Both at home and school, we must be attentive to our children. We need to listen to what they have to say, look at them when they are speaking, validate and acknowledge their feelings, show them right from wrong, provide sensorial opportunities for them to explore, teach them to exercise creativity, and to enjoy alone time, to name a few. Being fully present means that you are fully invested in developing a relationship, connecting, and strengthening the bond with your child and family every day. It’s about the quality of time spent together, getting to know each other in-depth, finding out and understanding what makes your family unique. There isn’t a formula for a perfect family. Parenting is a life-long commitment.

Occasionally, parents will make mistakes, even when they have the best intentions in their minds and hearts. Parents learn how to parent from their past experiences and the daily teachings of upbringing their children.

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Let’s always remember the words of the author Richie Norton: “Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.” We must take a moment to reflect and think about if we are the best we can be for the people we love the most and those around us. For our children, we are role models and their aspirations of who they wish to become. The values we teach and the actions we demonstrate will shape our children in the future.

CONTRIBUTORS

ADRIANA CALABRÓ [In the Name of Affection. Family, Fatherhood, and Other Adventures, p. 20] 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.

MARI BERNINI [A stranger’s perfect life, pg. 37] Has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Advertisement and holds a postgraduate in Strategic Planning and Project Management. She has worked for 15 years in the corporate world, ten years of which she spent in sales management, but abandoned it all to live exclusively as a mother. Three years ago, she became frustrated with her exclusively maternal role and started to share the challenges behind all the happiness of motherhood. That decision turned her into a digital influencer, as she began talking, with a lot of humor, about real life, motherhood, marriage and children.

MAURÍCIO OLIVEIRA [Three Generations, One Story, p. 32] 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 [Feeling Guilty Doesn’t Count, p. 09 and Sports: Chapel Forever in Our Memories, p. 14] Is the editor of Inside Chapel. She is a journalist with a Master’s degree in Portuguese from PUCSP. 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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THE CHALLENGES OF PARENTING

SPORTS FOR LIFE

The psychoanalyst Vera Iaconelli talks about raising children in contemporary society.

The expansion of Chapel’s sport program aims to reach all of its students.

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An exclusive interview with Marcos Piangers, writer and digital influencer, author of the book “O papai é pop”.

For three generations, the Lopes family have chosen Chapel as the place to educate their children.

A REAL FATHER

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A FAMILY SCHOOL

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SHORT STORY

SPOTLIGHT

The digital influencer Mari Bernini talks about how everyone else’s perfect life is a mere illusion.

The benefits of a Learning Portfolio; Maker’s Project on Children’s Day; Art website. All of which was news at Chapel.

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Get up to speed with the skills and interests of seven Chapel students and three Chapel teachers.

A record of events that marked the past school semester: celebrating First Communion, Children’s Day activities, celebrating Halloween and Spirit Week games.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

GALLERY

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PROFILE – VERA IACONELLI

By Paula Veneroso Photos: Renato Parada

FEELING GUILTY DOESN’T WITH A SMOOTH VOICE, COUNT. PARENTS AND CLEAR AND ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION, THE MOTHERS NEED TO BE PSYCHOTHERAPIST VERA IACONELLI HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVOKES NECESSARY REFLECTIONS ABOUT THEIR ABSENCE

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To start the conversation, the psychoanalyst assigns to all human beings, without exception, the commitment to parenthood, understood as the conditions provided by a generation, so that a new one may come. “This means that one must think not only about mommy and daddy who carried and birthed a baby, but society at large, because even those who don’t have children and those who don’t intend on having any are still responsible for the new generation that will substitute our own, the generation that will make us yield,” she explains. It is in this way that it is all our responsibility to help develop a new healthy generation and even those who choose not to be parents, are included in the task because they necessarily must be somebody’s children themselves. Furthermore, the duty to take care of a child is not limited to the biological parents, considering that anyone can be a caretaker.

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hen the topic is parenthood, Vera Iaconelli is keen to speak up and explain. Despite her delicate and didactic manner of speaking, she more often disturbs rather than calms, she leaves you uneasy and makes you ponder. It is for this very reason that her voice has become such a necessary one. Resistant to manuals that propose ready-made formulas for raising kids, she criticizes what she calls parenthood coaching - “a completely mistaken proposal that assumes that parents can be prepared for parenthood without any suffering, loss or symptom; it promises a relationship with your kids free from any kind of problem” Vera assures us that raising children has always been a difficult task, at all times, and our parents, who we see as experienced caretakers also didn’t know anything about parenting before bringing us into the world.

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FAMILY, MOTHERHOOD, AND RAISING CHILDREN

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Founded in 1999, the Instituto Gerar de Psicanálise promotes courses in psychoanalysis, as well as specializations and study, as well as research groups on parenting, sterility or infant mortality, psychoanalysis and race relations, feminism, and gender, offering full scholarships to black students. The institute encourages publications concerning human rights, black representation, education during a pandemic, late adoption, parenting, and others, offering videos and courses on their YouTube channel (Instituto Gerar). They offer clinical therapy to the general public, although mainly to youth and adults in vulnerable socio-economic situations.

CONTACT Website: institutogerar.com.br WhatsApp: 11 97338-3974 Rua Natingui, 314 – Vila Madalena – São Paulo/SP Email: atende@institutogerar.com.br Instagram: @institutogerar

Even though society at large participates in the development of a new generation, those who decide to have kids carry a greater responsibility, after all, to hold such a role means to wholeheartedly accept an eternal task - without any guarantee that the children will be grateful for their dedication because they generally die after their parents do.

“It is a task that involves reevaluating your previous opinions, values, your sexuality, your place in the world; there are a series of personal issues involved in the parental role, but more than that, this role is part of a social dynamic,” she affirms. “Those who can be fathers and mothers are the people who in their relationship to their child, put themselves in a position of care, responsibility, and transmission of one’s history, aiming to transmit your name throughout life; all this is anchored by social relations that permit the subject to take on this role.”

This approval is directly related to the duties established in our society, which the justice system can, for example, take away the familial power of those men

or women who fail to meet particular requirements when taking care of their children. However, and despite all the responsibility and hard work, the success of parenthood is not a guarantee. And that is nothing new.

In her book “Raising Children in the 21st Century” (Criar filhos no século XXI), Vera affirms that “even though everyone’s story is unique, it is impossible to determine beforehand those who will become satisfied with becoming parents and those who will regret it. After all, in between the fantasy of having children and its fulfillment, there lies an abyss.” One of the reasons for the distance between these two things is the idealization that parents project on to their unborn babies. “Children come to dethrone our narcissism and refuse to be the mini-me we hoped for,” she says pointedly.

Ideal Family vs Real Family Another idealization - built by our capitalist society - is that a perfect family is made up of a father, mother, and children. There are leagues in

between this ideal and reality. This model, according to the psychoanalyst, ignores and even harms all real forms of family, which are no longer something new. “In Brazil, there are many families, for example, made up of a single mother with a child or children.

There are families with two mothers or fathers, even three; the most varied combinations are working, because they already are a reality,” she states.

In her evaluation, the problem is that seldomly the groups that don’t fit the ideal mold avoid being treated with contempt. “This affects the relationships because when you imagine that your family isn’t worthy enough to raise a child this is transmitted to the child as if their origins are unworthy as if something was missing that didn’t allow them to develop normally,” she explains.

It is urgent therefore that society abandon once and for all these idealized fantasies of mommy, daddy, and baby because according to the specialist, no one has ever established that this cultural model is the ideal model for psychological normalization. “Our clinic is filled with children, men, and women who need therapy and have come

“ON ONE HAND SOCIETY EMBRACES, UNDERSTANDS, AND RECOGNIZES NEW FAMILIAL CONFIGURATIONS, ON THE OTHER HAND, IT DEMONIZES, CRITICIZES, AND DEMEANS. THIS LACK OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS WHAT CAUSES GREAT SUFFERING, PAIN, AND SICKNESS”

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Who Can Be a Father?

Who Can Be a Mother?

PROFILE – VERA IACONELLI

GET TO KNOW THE GERAR INSTITUTE

“CHILDREN COME TO DETHRONE OUR NARCISSISM AND REFUSE TO BE THE MINI-ME WE HOPED FOR” from this family structure based on the traditional model” she declares.

The problem is that Brazilian society is dealing with its familial reality in a very ambiguous way, which ends up delegitimizing some real forms of parenthood: “On one hand society embraces, understands and recognizes new familial configurations, on the other hand, it demonizes, criticizes and demeans. This lack of acknowledgment is what causes great suffering, pain, and sickness.”

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Main Challenges Amongst the innumerable challenges imposed by raising children nowadays, Vera ranks two challenges as the ones that come up most frequently in her clinical practice. The first one has already been mentioned and it is the so-called “parental coaching”, which sells this idea that parents can be easily prepared to generate children that will meet their expectations. “This isn’t humanly possible; actually, this is a neoliberal fantasy aimed at selling products,” she notes. To her, one of humanity’s greatest evils is to deny the human within us: “That is exactly what we don’t control, our subconscious and our sexuality, in other words, that which we do not notice. So it is necessary to

be very wary of these fantastical visions that aim at productivity within the parental role, for they are terrible.”

The second challenge is the virtual one. The new means of interpersonal relations, established now in this virtual era, will give rise to a generation of children practically raised by screens and devices and we will only know the result of this mediation further on. “Today, parents have to impose and create a barrier between screens and their children, as well as between themselves and their screens,” she explains, referring to the studies which demonstrate the harm caused by the uncontrolled use of smartphones, especially the considerable increase in suicides amongst children and teens, not to mention the high incidence of self-harm and depression.

“We already have statistics showing us the effects of indiscriminate screen use. Screens have come to stay and we cannot allow children to use them in a way that isn’t selective and controlled.” she cautions.

Guiltless Absence Parents are overworked and face the challenge of balancing their professional life with spending time with their kids, and are insurmountable issues, that is, it will always exist. The point is, according to Vera Iaconell, that parents or caretakers must take responsibility for their absences: “Children need to be helped, taken care of, watched and an adult must dedicate time to be with them. If parents or caretakers are unable to do this, someone must. And

there is no escaping it, children will feel the absence of their parents, thus diminishing the intimacy held between them.” This lack of intimacy can also reduce the parents’ pleasure in having this very role, which morally isn’t wrong because after all, according to Vera, it’s not about morality but an issue of being held responsible for the consequences of your actions.

Being more or less intimate with one’s children does not exempt parents and caretakers from their ethical responsibility to watch over children.

And there is no use in feeling guilty because “guilt brings about even worse consequences, like spoiling the child and rewarding them by buying them things, which will only bring you problems.” There is no right or wrong when it comes to prioritizing one’s career to the detriment of time spent with your children or on the opposite end of the spectrum, letting go of a promotion in to get closer to your family. “What we should have is everyone paying for their desires, which is always hard, because at all times we want to find rules to guide us,” affirms the psychoanalysis. She points out that if these issues are not discussed they will come back at some point as illnesses. The parental distancing provoked by these absences won’t harm the child’s development but will cost something dear to the parent and child’s relationship. “And that is ok but we will pay for this personally and socially. What we cannot do is pretend that a child can raise itself,” she concludes.

PROFILE – VERA IACONELLI

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ontinuously sought after, everyone wants to hear what she has to say about the subject of human motivation, as well as human suffering. Vera Iaconelli responds to all requests with great generosity - and she even excuses herself beforehand in case she might be misunderstood (which is practically impossible since she speaks with such clarity on varied topics) -finding time in her busy agenda to take part in interviews, programs, and debates. Even in these past few months, she has been on TV, cable, Youtube channels, radio shows, courses at Casa do Saber, TEDx Talks, and one can even read her weekly column on the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, balancing all these previous appointments with her courses and clinical practice at the Instituto Gerar de Psicanálise, which she founded and has directed for over 20 years in São Paulo.

Vera tells of how her interest in psychology was developed at a young age and even though at the time she didn’t quite know her enthusiasm for human issues, although perhaps her subconscious already hinted at it in her dreams and interest in literature. “I went into psychology and while I was there I got to know psychoanalysis,” she says. Vera has a Master’s degree in Pedagogical Psychology and Human Development and holds a Doctorate in Social Psychology all from the University

of São Paulo (USP), she decided to go through her studies not aiming to become a psychoanalyst - although this is one of the conditions for whoever would like to become one - but for personal reasons. During this journey, she experienced the birth of her own two daughters and her own maternity awakened another curiosity in her, “another pain to be treated,” she explains.

Vera poured over the topics of parenthood and their social implications in her clinical practice just as much as in her academic research, it wasn’t only an issue of private jurisdiction - between a father, mother, and child - but always a reflection on issues of intersectionality, thinking about a subject from their relation to class, gender, and race. “My situation, considering I am a middle-class white woman, would be entirely different, if I were a black mother living on the outskirts of town, and this has always seemed very clear to me,” she evaluates.

She also tells of her relationship with this curious universe, because even though she has worked for over 25 years she feels she is only just beginning, and that there are many years to come. “This enthusiasm to know more about parenting is one of the proofs of how much this topic is dear to me and shows how much it allowed me to come into contact with other distinct ideas and intersecting with diverse areas of knowledge, like anthropology, art, history, civil rights, medicine, and so many others that enlarged my field of research and allowed me to meet so many cool people,” she assures us.

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RAISING CHILDREN HAS ALWAYS BEEN HARD. VERA IACONELLI’S INCURSION INTO PARENTAL STUDIES

By Paula Veneroso Photos: Fernanda Caires

SPORTS: CHAPEL THE SCHOOL’S SPORTS PROGRAM GROWS AND FOREVER IN OUR NOW ACCOMMODATES 70% OF STUDENTS, THE MEMORIES

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MAJORITY OF WHOM ARE PRACTICING TWO OR MORE SPORTS

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hen invited to share their best moments at Chapel, almost all current and former students refer to sports. The school has always supported physical activities, dedicating continuous and increasingly investing in professionals, materials, and infrastructure, in the last three years this commitment has intensified. And this result can be seen daily. As soon as the school day ends, students, teachers, and coaches begin to make their way to the field and courts, announcing the start of afterschool practices. Beyond the traditional sports played by the Trojans, that is the High School students from 7th to 12th grade, three years ago the Young Trojans program was implemented. This activities program accommodates all Elementary School students, until recently it has been offered to 3rd through 6th grade students, however, the program grew, and as of 2022 has begun to include students in 1st and 2nd grades. “Before, Elementary School students’ participation in afterschool activities was limited by the number of spots offered by partner companies or independent teachers who rendered these services,” explains Bruno Pereira, sports director, and program creator, who arrived at Chapel in 2018 and since then has worked to expand students’ participation in physical activities and

Sports Community Young Trojans granted that this feeling of belonging to Chapel’s sports community, already present amongst High School students, expanded into Elementary School. This becomes clear as soon as Chapel shirts are on to participate in friendly games or sporting festivals. “These events are a form of preparation for students to gain experience and enjoy all the values which sports provide: teamwork, resilience, and persistence to name a few. Furthermore, for an athlete to properly exercise his role, he must commit to practice, foster a good relationship with others, communicate well, and learn to lead and be led,” affirms the director. In a round of friendly games, students will experience results that go beyond the scoreboard. Playing with schoolmates, learning to be good hosts when receiving others to play at home, and interacting with different cultures are a few examples of pre and post-game practices that highlight positive school years experience. “This interaction is very pleasing, they see friends from other schools again, come across neighbors from condominiums, and this greatly impacts them,” comments Mr. Pereira.

From Young Trojan to Junior Varsity When students begin 7th grade, they can become a part of the sports team in the Junior Varsity category, which is composed of players up to 14 years old. Member of the São Paulo High School League (SPHSL) - a sports

league composed of American and British schools - Chapel has always participated in sports festivals proposed by the entity. Up until 2018, there was no championship for the JV category, only friendly matches. However, as of that year, the SPHSL began organizing a half-yearly tournament for JV teams. The sports director explains that this is a competition in which the five international school members Chapel, PACA (Pan American Christian Academy), St. Paul’s School, Graded School, and EAC (Escola Americana de Campinas) - play amongst each other in a single round. As well as this competition, JV teams also contest in the traditional Little 8 tournament, which takes place in the NR Camp, close to Campos de Jordão (SP). For this tournament, in addition to the SPHSL schools, three more schools from out of state participate, EARJ (Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro), British School, and EAB (Escola Americana de Brasília). The implementation of Young Trojans distinctly increased the number of female students interested in being part of female teams in these tournaments. “After this, we have, for the first time, an extremely high number of 7th grade girls enrolled in the JV category, and having teams with approximately 30 students,” comments Mr. Pereira. Because of this, Chapel sparked a change in the Little 8 tournament. In parallel to the main tournament, where the main teams are composed of the older students, the 14-year-olds, another tournament is held, with the younger students, aged

INSTITUTIONAL – ESPORTES

sports. This dedication bears fruit: today, 70% of Chapel students practice at least one sport as an afterschool activity.

Young Trojans offers soccer, basketball, volleyball, and cheerleading, for all boys and girls. “When the project was implemented, our immediate goal was to increase the number of girls participating in collective sports activities. There were a good number of girls doing ballet or gymnastics, but very few playing basketball or soccer, for example.” This objective was quickly met, and the amount of boys and girls participating in different sports is practically the same,” explains Mr. Pereira. Other goals were to make children acquire knowledge and develop a connection to the sports categories they will be competing in when in High School. “It is about preparing students for success. And that does not only mean winning, success can be achieved through the satisfaction of representing the school in competitions or participating in a friendly game. But for this, technical, physical, and emotional preparation is required,” he adds. More than this, according to him, the idea behind the program goes beyond the benefits brought on by sports and physical activities, one of the greatest objectives is to reinforce students’ sense of belonging. “These moments are permanently registered in their memories. We always receive alumni testimonials reaffirming how sports were important in their development and construction of affectionate school life memories,” he evaluates.

NBA BASKETBALL PROGRAM INTEGRATES YOUNG TROJANS

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signed partnership between Chapel and NBA Basketball School - an educational branch of the world’s most important basketball league -, implemented for students who participate in the Young Trojans sports program, is in its third year. “The NBA program’s methodology and mission, its pedagogical pillars, are very aligned with Chapel’s Mission and Values. This was the reason why we signed the partnership,” says Chapel’s sports director, Bruno Pereira. In this program, students go through levels of individual learning, which makes it personalized. “Within a group with different levels of learning, the teacher can differentiate actions to reach all students,” explains the director. For this, teachers undergo inperson and remote training and also attend refresher courses offered by the NBA half-yearly.

FROM ATHLETE TO EDUCATOR: BRUNO PEREIRA’S JOURNEY

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s a basketball player during his youth, Bruno Pereira was part of Esperia club’s Junior Varsity team in São Paulo and played for Guarulhos’ (SP) city team before starting his undergraduate in dentistry in Campinas, a course he did not complete. “After two years, I was sure I had to go back to sports and began my undergraduate in Physical Education at PUC Campinas. From that moment on, I went back to my roots,” he reveals.

Working with sports since his graduation, in a short time, he went from intern to teacher’s assistant. “My job is sports and education, developing children, shaping individuals,” comments the teacher, who built his career inside schools. After 12 years acting in Brazilian and international schools in Campinas, he moved to the state capital and began working at St. Francis College, where he stayed until he applied for the job he currently holds at Chapel. “I am very proud to have received the invitation to work here, and it grows with each passing day. Today, I can say that I am an unconditional Chapel School fan,” he comments. He says it truly is love, “I receive a lot of support here and I have an excellent relationship with everyone, students, colleagues, principals, employees, and all this just makes this love deeper,” he celebrates.

The door to his office is always open to welcome students, talk about games, organize extra practice, vent frustrations, and share successes. “Students’ break time is never mine because I like to be here to attend to their needs,” confirms the teacher, who never relinquished being in a classroom and has always sought self-learning and development, having done two specialized courses (in the fields of sports at school and school physical education), besides other courses in his field. He is currently undergoing a Master’s in International Education.

An insider scoop on abbreviations and terms used in the school’s athletic activities:

Junior Varsity (JV) Teams composed of students from 7th to 9th grades.

Trojan The school’s mascot is represented by a Trojan warrior. The Trojan is a valiant fighter, who is not discouraged while facing even the biggest adversities. It is common to refer to athletes as trojans.

Young Trojans Sports program for Elementary School (1st to 6th grades) capable of engrossing all students. With a half-yearly enrolment, students can participate in an individual or collective sporting category up to five times a week, as soon as regular classes end.

Big 8 A six-day Varsity tournament for international schools. Two days and a half are dedicated to the competition of one sports category (basketball for example) and another two days and a half for another sport (soccer for example). The tournament, which takes place in camp NR, holds an opening and closing ceremony.

12 to 13. “This did not use to happen.

Before, the younger student would only travel for the tournament if they were an above-average athlete. With the program, which is totally inclusive, every student enrolled at Chapel will have the opportunity to take part in a tournament,” explains. With the support of the school’s administration, whenever a Varsity game happens, Mr. Pereira will schedule, in the same week, a game for the younger students. “We want everyone to go through the same experiences, and that within the school prepare themselves not only as athletes, but as citizens because these experiences are responsible for the development of their personality, character, and the social-emotional skills we value so much.”

From Junior Varsity to Varsity Upon completing 15 years of age,

Little 8 A six-day Junior Varsity championship for international schools.

Two days and a half are dedicated to the competition of one sports category (basketball for example) and another two days and a half for another sport (soccer for example). The tournament, which takes place in camp NR, holds an opening and closing ceremony.

NR Camp where the Big 8 and Little 8 sports tournaments are held.

The resort NR is located in Santo Antônio do Pinhal in São Paulo, close to Campos de Jordão.

SPHSL – São Paulo High School League Sports league composed of American and British schools, and is responsible for the traditional SPHSL tournament, with games hosted in turns by schools. The championship is contested halfyearly by teams from Chapel, Graded, PACA, EAC, and St. Paul’s in Varsity categories, and since 2018 in Junior Varsity. In the first semester of the year, cheerleading presentations take place, as well as basketball and soccer tournaments. In the second semester, in addition to cheerleading, there are futsal, softball, and volleyball tournaments.

athletes begin to compete in the Varsity category, with participation in the SPHSL championship and Big 8 championship - Season 1 and Season 2 - are contested by eight international schools in Brazil. The São Paulo High School League championship is the longest tournament. Held in two rounds, it lasts a semester. During this period, teams participate in games at Chapel and other schools before disputing the semi-final and final phases. In one semester competitions for soccer and basketball take place, while during the other semester futsal, softball, and volleyball happen.

“The tournaments are short and last three or 4 days, yet very intense, and take place in the NR camp,” explains Mr. Pereira. The cheerleading squad performs in both semesters, always accompanying the basketball and futsal teams, and with a performance

in the Big 8 tournament. According to the sports director, Chapel’s greatest difference is maintaining a fixed sports calendar, which is disclosed in advance. “As soon as the school year starts, families already know when game days will be, the time, place (at school or outside school), and can then organize their own schedules,” explains the director, reinforcing that open communication with students and families is key. “Complying with the calendar involves a lot of responsibility, not only for the sport itself but above all, the commitment athletes must have towards their team and their academic development, which are very valued at Chapel,” he notes.

A Refined Orchestra For the sports program to accommodate all students while maintaining the quality of services rendered, there is

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Varsity The school’s main team. At Chapel, the teams are composed of students from 10th to 12th grade.

INSTITUTIONAL – ESPORTES

CHAPEL’S SPORTS VOCABULARY

extensive and meticulous planning involving various sectors of the school: security, maintenance and cleaning, food services, teachers, and coaches.

“In a matter of 20 minutes, we wrap up a day of regular classes to start the period of afterschool activities, in which all sporting areas are simultaneously used and perfectly appropriate for specific age groups and sport,” clarifies Mr. Pereira. For example, within the soccer field, more age-appropriate smaller fields are drawn for younger students, for 7 to

12-year-olds. For this, the school provides smaller and lighter balls, as well as all other types of equipment, which are all age-appropriate. “During Young Trojan practices, we can have four to six smaller soccer fields working simultaneously, each one with two teachers with students from the same age groups, boys and girls.

“We have had 15 teachers working at the same time, all hired, especially for this program. Whenever a group increases, Chapel hires more assistant teachers to maintain the quality of services rendered to families,” he says.

The same happens with other sports. On the courts, the volleyball nets’ heights are altered, and the basketball hoops are adapted according to students’ age groups. “Here at Chapel, we do not apply an adult sport for the child, that is why our environment and equipment are appropriate for our students to experience success and enjoy practicing activities. When Young Trojan practices end, everything is changed back to welcome High School students. This is how sports will remain in their lives,” finalizes Mr. Pereira.

TROJANS: THE ORIGIN OF THE CHAPEL MASCOT*

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Close to its 60th year of inception, Chapel’s sports mascot was idealized by Robert Wong, when he was an eighthgrade student in 1962. He shares that he was inspired by the teaching of Father Thomas Delaney, who was at the time responsible for the school’s parish and basketball team. “He would tell us the importance of being brave, and said we always had to fight with enthusiasm, energy, and passion.” The former student remembers sporting competitions as important learning moments.

“In these competitions, we learned that more important than winning or losing our greater objective was to work as a team and acquire discipline. This made us a cohesive, united team that tried to

make very few mistakes, and that took the fundamentals of sports seriously.

We had grit, meaning we had a fighting spirit,” says Mr. Wong.

It was based on these principles that he suggested the image of a Trojan soldier to be their mascot. Even though he held a minority view - after all, the tendency amongst American schools was to choose animals as their team’s mascots - his idea was accepted. “I used to say that our mascot should be a human figure, gifted with the energy and strength, the attributes Father Thomas highlighted. That was when I suggested ‘Trojans,’ who were very skillful, strong, brave, and disciplined soldiers,” he recalls.

*Almost every team has a mascot. Derived from French, the term mascotte can be translated as ‘animal, person, or object that ascribes the possibility of bringing good luck’.

INSTITUTIONAL – ESPORTES

clinics

Publications centers and courses

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Our objective is to transmit, offer treatment and develop research in psychoanalysis with a focus on permanent articulation with issues of contemporary unrest.

atende@institutogerar.com.br

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By Adriana Calabró Photos: Personal Archive

COVER INTERVIEW – MARCOS PIANGERS

IN THE NAME OF AFFECTION. FAMILY, FATHERHOOD, AND OTHER ADVENTURES

IN THE SPOTLIGHT ARE ANITA AND AURORA, THE GIRLS WHO MAKE MARCOS PIANGERS A VOICE TO THE WORLD. THAT’S BECAUSE IT WAS WHILE TALKING ABOUT FATHERHOOD, ALWAYS FROM A PLACE OF AFFECTION AND BONDING, IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF TOXIC MASCULINITY, THAT HE TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF THOUSANDS OF READERS, MILLIONS OF INTERNET USERS, AND ALSO LARGE COMPANIES THAT HIRE HIM FOR LECTURES THAT INSPIRE AND TRANSFORM. AT HIS SIDE, ANA, HIS WIFE, ASSERTS HERSELF AS THE OTHER PILLAR OF THIS FAMILY CONSTRUCTION, MADE UP OF RESPONSIBLE PARENTS IN THE BEST SENSE OF THE WORD, WHICH IS THE ABILITY TO RESPOND POSITIVELY TO SITUATIONS. THE KEYWORD FOR PIANGERS IS INVESTIGATION, AS IT IS THROUGH THIS THAT MEN MATURE AND TRULY TAKE ON THE EXCITING JOURNEY OF BEING REAL PARENTS.

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A

journalist by training and followed today by more than five million people, writer, speaker, and influencer Marcos Piangers chose to show his vulnerability to the world by recounting in texts and videos the effect on his life of lacking a father figure. This honesty, sensitively revealed, resulted in true alchemy. After all, the boy who didn’t have a present father, being raised only by his mother, has now become a powerful voice precisely to inspire men to be the best versions of themselves when it comes to taking care of their children. Starting from pregnancy, through the division of tasks and, mainly, through the daily bonding and joint learning, the journey of fatherhood proposed by Piangers goes hand in hand with an individual’s process of maturity and self-knowledge. Maybe that’s why he has been called a “guru” in the media and has conquered a loyal audience that sees him as someone who acts coherently with what he says. One of the indicators of this success is the 300 thousand copies sold of his first book, “O papai é pop”, translated in several countries and simultaneously a seed for his second book and a film, starring Lázaro Ramos and Paolla Oliveira. Although Anita and Aurora’s father, and Ana’s husband, tackles the issue of fatherhood emphatically, he also gained prominence when talking about the family bond more extensively, so much so that one of his most famous videos is the one that encourages people to say “I love you” to their loved ones. Under constant personal evolution, Marcos also collects professional life successes: today he participates in the literary project “Letters To My Young Self”, which has already featured texts by Paul McCartney and Jamie Oliver, as well as being among the best influencers of 2020 in the “behavior” category from the iBest Award, and winning the 2020 Influencers Award. This shows that Piangers is pop, but also has solid concepts that are here to stay. And to transform.

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How was the first time you said something to an audience and realized that your content touched people?

MP: Neil Gaiman (British author based in the United States) freed me from my insecurity about dealing with family matters when I read a comic book compilation published by him in 2010. He gathered what he considered the best American comics and one of them was by an author who spoke of his family and the arrival of a new daughter, named Olivia (Olive). I thought to myself, “Wow, look how interesting, an artist using his sensibility, his artistic productivity to talk about family, something that is so special to me”. Also, when my first child was born, in 2005, I had the urge to write down everything that happened to us, all the learning moments, the different, funny, and exciting things in our lives. At the time, I kept this kind of diary to myself, still a little embarrassed, because I saw around me a social construct that distanced the man from the family, without giving him space to publicly speak of these affectionate feelings I had concerning my fatherhood. When I saw this comic strip, I was sure that I too could talk about it to the world, and so I began to write in the newspaper the stories I had experienced or lived in my daughter’s early years.

This was around 2013, and this content started to thrill people.

How was your childhood? How did you play? And friendships? What do you miss the most?

MP: My childhood was very happy.

When I was little I lived in a building, first, with only a bedroom and living room, and then we moved to an apartment where I had my room. It was a happy moment. It was a very simple building, which still exists; these days I passed by in front of it with my

What is your educational/academic background? What experiences have been positive in this area? Was there someone who inspired you?

MP: My mother always told me that I had to make an effort to get into a public school, or a public university because she didn’t have money for private schools. So, in the first year of high school, I studied construction at a technical school and then took a college entrance preparatory course for low-income students, in which the teachers were students at UFSCar Federal University of São Carlos. In the end, I was able to start a Bachelor’s in Journalism at that same institution. This gave me opportunities to exercise my communication and writing skills, and my teachers certainly inspired me a lot along this path, not only presenting me books but teaching me how to write and showing me the possibilities of the job

market based on my main skills. These teacher figures were very fatherly to me, so I got very close to men I admired, just looking to somehow replace that father figure I never had. I was very inspired by them in my schooling.

In your opinion, what is the best definition of family?

MP: If I could sum it up in one word, it would be affection. I believe that family has absolutely nothing to do with blood, chromosomes, DNA. Family is affection and this includes nontraditional families, those that are made up of adopted children, or that the children are raised by the grandfather, by an acquaintance. Oh, and adoptive fathers are also fathers, there is no such thing as only a “son by heart” (as opposed to biological son)! Because every child is loved from the heart.

We must call it by the right name.

When I say that family is affection, it’s because what’s fundamental is that we manage to build a bond that will last a lifetime. We should celebrate this, accept stepmothers, stepfathers, accept affectionate love, family love that, many times, we diminish for not being of blood origin.

COVER INTERVIEW – MARCOS PIANGERS

MP: I’m sure my mom taught me to be stronger, to deal with my frustrations more maturely. She taught me to value things, to live a frugal life, to celebrate day-to-day life giving thanks for everything simple, and I carry all this with me to this day. My mother always had many financial difficulties, the same as any middle-class family had in Brazil in the 80s and 90s, with the aggravating factor that I didn’t have a father, that is, she didn’t have a partner to share the bills and have extra income. Even so, she instilled the idea of ​​valuing the small things, the small games, the food, the walks, the observation of nature. Another thing she gave me was the classic mother’s phrase, “you’re not everyone”, which helped me understand that I didn’t need to replicate people’s mistakes, that I could act differently. Another one she always reinforced was “when you make an effort and do well at school, you do nothing more than your obligation”.

Today I see this in the path of selfknowledge because the world doesn’t say “thank you” just because you strive to be your best self. It’s not for applause or thanks, you must do things because it’s the right thing to do, it is indeed your obligation. Well, another classic line she said was that “one day you will understand”. Well, I get it!

daughters, because I wanted them to know and I told them the stories of how we climbed over the wall, went to the vacant lot, stayed out all day, Saturday and Sunday, exploring the neighborhood on foot. It was a way of playing that is very different from what children have these days. I lived on the street, invented activities, loved to pretend to be a superhero or someone I liked on television. My friends and I “were” those characters. At times I would go with my mother to her job because she didn’t have money for a babysitter, or she didn’t have daycare, so I would stay in her work office, in the corner, drawing and making up games.

But I also remember something that was missing. I was missing a father to teach me how to play ball, how to ride a bicycle, so much that when I started to learn to ride I was already 14 years old. Its gaps in my skills like these that I imagine would have been filled if I had a father who played this role, who would have taught me these things like my friends’ parents did.

Before, good parenting was associated with the provision of living comfort and discipline, and today, we see many other variables that define a beneficial influence of the father in the children’s lives. In your opinion, what are the most necessary influences for the world we live in?

MP: Today there is a lot of scientific research that talks about the importance of the father, the father figure, and even the pediatric bibliography talks a lot about the mother and father. The maternal as the bond, affection, the physical touch, and the paternal as the breaking of that tactile connection for an introduction to a world of challenge,

“IT’S NOT FOR APPLAUSE OR THANKS, “I WAS MISSING A FATHER TO TEACH ME HOW TO PLAY BALL, HOW TO RIDE A BICYCLE, SO YOU MUST DO THINGS BECAUSE MUCH SO THAT WHEN I STARTED TO LEARN IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, IT IS TO RIDE I WAS ALREADY 14 YEARS OLD” INDEED YOUR OBLIGATION”

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You talk about your mother’s strength.

How was the relationship with her daily? What values do ​​ you believe you received from her?

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of accomplishment. But these roles can be played by both mother and father.

We can stop dividing roles so rigidly.

So I think that a man can assume the fatherly nurture, in the sense of introducing the world to his child, and exercise this realization, and he can also motherly nurture with a lot of affection, a lot of love, a lot of conversation, a lot of sensitivity, with a lot of listening skills. Before, in the fathers of the past, this motherly side was not very developed, because the roles were defined in a stricter sense. But these were challenged, initially, by women’s movements that said “come on, we don’t just want to be a housewife, we don’t want to be just a mother”. So the men, to some extent, found themselves a little resentful of these changes because maybe it was much easier to just pay the bills and at times discipline the kids with a certain strictness. But today, this new role, while freeing some mothers, has also freed some fathers who can exercise a more balanced, more sensitive fatherhood, which, in my opinion, is very positive. There is also a challenge there, which can in turn be a new prison: if you are a woman who does not want to work, or if you are a man who does not want to take care of your children. That’s why I say that it is necessary to establish

a family construction, an agreement of roles that needs to be discussed beforehand between the couple. I think that the traditional models, considered antiquated, still work, but this has to be much discussed and not taken as a rule. It is important to have selfknowledge and emotional intelligence to understand the models that are presented and to be able to choose clearly. There is no happy family when only the man is happy, or when only the child is happy. We have to be constantly investigating whether our options make that family happy as a whole.

You say that your best reward is when your message reaches men and makes them not only change their way of thinking but the way they act. Do you see this happening in your circle of friends too? Do you have any close examples?

MP: I see this happening all the time, people send me audios on Instagram, messages on social media, and via email saying they identify with and have been transformed by my content. I am always very grateful and, of course, I see people around me discovering these possibilities for change as well.

These days a friend wrote to me and said, “look man, I’m disappointed with

my circle of friends and you’re a man who behaves differently from the way I want to behave myself, so I want tips and to know how to meet other men like that”. He’s been a friend for years and he gradually realized that his other friendships behaved in a disrespectful, aggressive, violent, deceitful, sometimes dishonest way with their family, with the children. This person, who has two boys and loves his children, wanted to find a different circle of friends from the one we have the cultural and structural incentive to have. Because if you ask someone what the ideal male is, many people will answer that he is a well-dressed man, good looking, social, wealthy, a big car, and with a good professional position. Then we can draw in our minds this ideal “male”, the one we see in movies, read about in books, and we think, “Wow, I want to be that, I want to be someone with achievements, to be successful”. However, if the question becomes, what is a good man, or what do you consider a good man, then, another image starts to appear. A good man is an honest, kind person, he is a respectful human being, who treats people, his wife, and children well, he acts appropriately at work, understands differences, and respects them wherever he goes. Someone who reflects before

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COVER INTERVIEW – MARCOS PIANGERS

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acting and is thoughtful. So when I look at this good man, I begin to relate to masculine and human virtues that interest me much more. I much prefer to be a good man rather than an ideal man. So what I want is to offer a path, an idea, for more and more men to be good men, instead of being in this race to be an ideal, unattainable man who constantly hurts the people who are around them.

You say that it is ideal is for the pregnancy to belong to the couple, both together. What is the greatest difficulty in having this maximum degree of empathy?

MP: I think one of the biggest difficulties of modern life is due to our obsession

with money and consumerism, which drives us to be always busy, with no time for anything. When we find out about a pregnancy, we think: “ah, well, my role here is to work more, earn more, buy things, paint the room, buy a crib online and my job is done”. But pregnancy is fantastic because it provides an opportunity for men to participate in the pregnancy with their partner. . Nine months prepares the baby for birth, but it also prepares the mother. It is a very good time for the couple to organize, talk, discuss, make a schedule, plan not only the name but also what they expect when the child arrives. “Let’s try to get him to sleep a lot, let’s try to make this child autonomous from an early age, let’s understand this child, let’s decide who will stay with him in the morning, who

will stay in the afternoon...”. All of these discussions help the couple to strengthen and prepare for this time. Many men who don’t relish the pregnancy with their wives are certainly startled when the baby arrives because a child can greatly impact a household. And the woman, who has gone through a series of biological changes, has a social and emotional transformation as well, which leaves this man a little scared, resentful.

He feels unsuccessful and unable to go through the puerperium, feeling what the woman feels. This is typical, a cliché for couples and therefore the man needs to share the pregnancy experience. It’s good for the marriage, for the man, for the woman and, mainly, very good for the child to have this harmony in the first months.

You have been following Marcos’ trajectory. How is this dynamic of lectures and other commitments for both of you?

What is and what isn’t helpful?

AC: We moved to Curitiba in 2017, closer to my family. We missed having a “bigger nest”. I also travel to give lectures and the girls’ school life was becoming a challenge.

Anita complained that no one wanted to work with her at school because she was always traveling. In Curitiba, we started counting on my mother to stay with them when the two of us are away. Traveling is fun and teaches us a lot, but I confess that I enjoyed taking a ‘pandemic’ break and paying proper attention to household life and family issues. The fact that Marcos

travels a lot doesn’t bother me, especially after the girls grew up. I think the secret to a good marriage is that everyone has their own time. It’s good to miss your partner.

It helps in this, in our individualities, but it also gets in the way because, sometimes, life can feel like a juggling act: airport, logistics, travel, exams at school, meetings… help!

the argument has to have theoretical and empirical support. The conversation is based on persuasion. Marcos gives in a lot. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve greatly improved my discussion techniques or because I’m always right.

You’ve both already said that it’s important for parents who want to have children to make time for them. How does this work in practice?

AC: A woman who does everything her way, or who thinks her husband won’t look up to her anymore if she can’t handle the household and the child, is bound to live exhausted. She will also have a husband who doesn’t share any tasks. I am very calm, I ask for help, I delegate and I do it “as best I can”, always. I am proud to be a terrible housewife.

AC: It is common for the arrival of a child to drive a couple apart. It even happened to us. I think it’s very important to talk about it so people don’t romanticize the baby’s arrival. Being aware already prepares us to face the issue differently. With our second child, for example, this was no longer such a serious issue. Couples need alone time, to have adult conversations, talk nonsense, and date.

When there is a difference of opinion amongst you regarding how to conduct the teaching of the girls, how do you organize yourselves?

AC: We’re both very rational and stubborn,

How do you think women can contribute to creating new fatherhood paradigms?

You are also an author. How is this exchange between the two of you concerning your texts? Is one a “critical reader” of the other?

AC: Yes, we show each other our texts.

Not everything, not always. We both have a great sense of humor and it shows in writing, to the point that people often confuse our texts. Marcos likes to talk more about love and feelings; I’m more about making jokes or critical reflections.

Anita and Aurora say that, in addition to pop, Dad is: Apprentice “He is always studying, learning, looking to improve!”

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orn in Curitiba, Marcos Piangers’ chosen one is called Ana Cardoso and she is also pure movement. In addition to being a journalist, she has a master’s degree in Political Sociology. She is the author of three books: “Mamãe é Rock”, “Natal, férias e outras histórias”, and “Quando falta ar”; creator of the Bonne Chance project, which offers French lessons with refugees; and collaborator of the feminist collective Casa da Mãe Joanna. Here, she also talks a little about family life.

COVER INTERVIEW – MARCOS PIANGERS

MOM IS ROCK AND ROLL AND MUCH MORE

Do you think social and economic issues interfere with the way men raise their children? What is the impact of these external factors?

MP: I don’t think so. There are good and bad fathers in all social classes. I think the worker who is in a situation of economic vulnerability has this excuse, but I’ve met parents from less wealthy social classes who are very participative, affectionate, and who value the time with their children, even if it’s ten, twenty minutes. Likewise, I have seen wealthy families who have many matters to take care of and therefore are constantly busy, but who also understand that quality time with their children is valuable. That is, it does not depend on social class. Unfortunately, if you want to be a bad parent, that is, if you have other priorities, if you put other things before your child, there will always be an excuse. “Ah, I have a lot of bills to pay”, “I have a company to run”, “I’m a person of economic vulnerability, I’m working hard”, and even “I need to go to the gym”. Many excuses can be given, but I think they are illegitimate, because there are always people who strive to have active, caring, and affectionate fathers, even if it is not perfect.

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You talk about multipliers, about people you would like to see speaking and writing about the same topics you address. Do you think this is currently happening? How can an ordinary man, in everyday life, contribute to a society of better parents, even if he is not one?

MP: I think every man can contribute to a society with better parenting when he makes some decisions. For example, being a faithful man, an attentive man, who listens to his wife, who wants to build a family with good communication. A man who, instead of talking, also listens, not only what he wants to hear, but what the other person is really saying. A man who speaks in an empathetic way so others understand. This deconstruction of toxic self-destructive masculinity brings the understanding that this man can take care of himself, he can take care of others. He can also leave the most perverse WhatsApp groups, full of pornography and horrible videos and

photos, which are bad for him and the relationship. With these attitudes, he sets examples to other men, who become curious: “Oh, so explain this to me, you don’t want to be drinking beer and talking nonsense anymore?”

And that man will say, “No, I had the courage to grow up.” Because I joke that there are many men with Peter Pan syndrome who don’t want to grow up and are dependent on a mother figure, or on an idealized woman, like Tinker Bell, who fulfills all their wishes. If you look at ancestral civilizations, in all of them there was a moment in the boy’s life when he went through a ritual that said: so far you have been served, from now on you will have to take care of others, from here on you will have to be brave, kind, hardworking, you will have to develop the virtue of courage to take care of the tribe, to take care of others, and take responsibility for the people around you. Many modern men have decided not to go through these rites of passage and continue living in the enchanted world of Peter Pan, afraid of Captain Hook and the clock – which is time. Life will demand an answer and ask: will you die alone? Because maybe that’s the greatest male fear. So, for me, this process of gaining maturity goes far beyond paying the bills, it goes towards self-knowledge, communication skills, the possibility of developing skills, of being a good man. I definitely want to see more men sharing these experiences to build a healthier world.

Social networks build phenomena overnight and are part of the lives of children and young people. Do you think the internet is “taking on fatherhood” in terms of references?

MP: I think the internet is a very diverse environment and celebrates society’s values. If this society is sick and values violence, aggressiveness, and misinformation, then consumerism and social networks will reflect this. We see a lot more pictures of people at parties, sporting some type of consumable goods, rather than with their children on their laps, going through difficult times such as changing diapers and cleaning up vomit, or even just moments of reflection, positive moments. I think we have in our hands a powerful

computer that could be bringing us closer to the most inspiring reflections humanity has ever contemplated. We have all the books in our pockets, all the knowledge fostered by humanity in the past, and that could make us evolve much faster. The problem is some of these systems are built to take us away from our virtues, and therefore, I think, yes, technology can have a negative impact. What I try is to use all these technological tools to inspire positive traits, that’s my criteria. If it’s going to make people’s lives better, I publish it, if not, I don’t publish it. That’s why I don’t display photos of my trips, material gains, or personal experiences. I think I’m talking to everyone out there, so it’s not about me, it’s about all of us. It is not a reflection on Marcos, it is not a need for clicks or likes, it is a reflection that can help all families.

In the case of separated parents, who have a different dynamic of living with their children (for example, in the division of weekends and holidays), what do you consider the best attitude for adults?

MP: First of all, the connection to the love that once existed between them. I think every couple needs to remember the time when they liked, admired, and respected each other.

Respect is that powerful feeling that allows a family to move forward, even after a separation. All of this must exist out of respect for the children, those that the parents claim to love, so it’s important to mention that. Many men and women say they love their children, but use them as a way to hurt their spouse, as an object of dispute, of parental alienation; one speaks ill of the other creating division and verbal violence. I think the hurt feelings are what causes it. For this reason, it is very, very important for the couple to understand and respect each other, as there are children in their midst. It’s so much more beautiful when a couple manages to overcome their pain, their misunderstandings, and build another form of family, with maturity and without disappointing their children.

There is nothing more disappointing for a child than realizing that he or she is more mature than his parents.

M

arcos Piangers’ first book, “O Papai é Pop”, was written over ten years, from the moment his first daughter, Anita, came into the world, and throughout her development. “I kept writing down the experiences of childbirth, what she did when she got home from school, the times she kept singing instead of ringing the bell. I’m glad I wrote it down, because I forgot several passages, and when I reread them, I think: ‘Oh, wow, that’s right, we lived through this and it was very beautiful,’” he says. The success of the book, which also brought experiences from the author’s life, including with his mother and grandfather, was such that the publisher immediately wanted to release “O Papai é pop 2”, this time with texts written after 2015, containing several reflections and done with a fun and interactive graphic project. In this second book, in addition to the presence of Anita, there was also that of Aurora, the couple’s second daughter.

My child does not put the iPad down. My son does not stop playing video games. My son does not get off his cell phone. My son does not turn off the television. Our kids do not leave the electronics we buy with ten installments of hard-earned cash at the department store. Do our children remind you of anyone?

They remind us of ourselves. We also stay in front of the cell phone. We do not take our eyes off the TV. We are always on the computer. These days, the saddest and funniest scene happened: my daughter said “look dad!” for the tenth time while I was reading emails from work on my cell phone. She then came in front of me and bent down behind the cell phone so she came into my field of vision. “Staying behind the phone is the only way of you looking at me”.

It was just one more slap to dad’s face, among so many that my daughter gives me. Every slap makes me a better dad. I started to notice at home, at the restaurant, during family lunches: the children say “look, Dad!” all the time. They are jumping on one foot, “look, dad! They’re running down a ramp, “look daddy” They’re making funny faces, look, daddy!

O papai é pop 2, p. 73

COVER INTERVIEW – MARCOS PIANGERS

HAVE A CHILD, WRITE A BOOK

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Another of Marcos’ editorial successes is “O Poder do Eu te Amo”, which recorded on paper one of his most successful videos on the internet. “It was a delight to transform it into text, using all the possibilities of the new format. When I tell the reader that my father-in-law never said ‘I love you’ to his kids, they turn the page and there are two blank pages as if something really is missing. So, the book is also an experience”, he explains. For the design of this project, Piangers relied on his great friend, Fabio Haag, who, according to him, is also an inspiring father.

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Children will experience pain, even if the parents try to get things right as much as possible. Can the paternity issue also fall into paternalism?

MP: I like to say that if I could separate parents’ attitudes into three mistakes, the first would be an omission.

“My life is very busy; I have many commitments, many bills to pay, so I outsource my children’s education.

School, mother-in-law, grandmother, wife, nanny, neighbor, and also to after school classes, swimming, judo”.

It’s a way of saying that if something goes wrong, it’s someone else’s fault.

With this omission, we end up raising children we don’t know well, who are unprepared for life, needy. This daily rush can also bring two other mistakes that serve to replace our lack of time.

One is permissiveness because since I work so hard, I’m going to allow my kids to do whatever they want when we’re together. So I do chores for them, I give everything they ask of me, I give gifts in a materialistic exchange that miseducates and creates very spoiled children. Or, I’m too rushed, too tired, which makes me an authoritarian father who sets rules and wants them to apply to the household, relationships, children, without much knowledge about them and without interest in their personality.

That’s because to develop good rules, they must be personalized, done with responsibility. Many parents with this kind of authoritarianism raise insecure children who never know if they are doing the right thing or what the world expects of them. These neglectful, permissive or overbearing parents will produce children with very immature and dysfunctional characteristics. We also have a fourth father personality, which is the present father, the humble father, who is looking carefully at his child, who is paying attention. Research shows that a father can have ten to

twenty minutes of quality time with his children daily and this is enough to create a bond. This is a period of time that has dedicated attention, without technology, without television, with full communication. Moments for reading, talking, laughing, tickling, playing games that they themselves invent.

Ten to twenty minutes a day of a free and very low-stress experience creates this powerful bond because the parent gets to know the child, the child learns from the parent. Children develop higher self-esteem, good social skills, better academic performance, good preparation for careers, for the corporate world, a positive view of themselves, and above all, of the future! Look, how cool: a brave child! The secret is to be a present, active, participative parent.

Idealizations, expectations, aspirations.

It may be impossible not to have them concerning children. In your opinion, how can we best manage these anxieties that life brings?

MP: First, by understanding that it’s not your fault. If you make a mistake, it has to do with your background, with your references, with what you were taught, with a series of wrong structural values.

Every mistake is a learning experience.

And guilt doesn’t do a very good job because you are paralyzed, thinking that simply taking the blame, acknowledging that you were wrong, is already a great thing rather than looking for evolution, a learning process that leads to another kind of attitude. I want to kill the part of Marcos who messed up with Anita, who messed up with Aurora; I want him to be gone a year from now, that immature, coarse, clumsy, ignorant part. Instead of blaming yourself, the important thing is to understand that there are parts of people that are poorly built. The comparison is not with others, with other families, it is with yourself,

with yesterday. Are you better or worse?

When you’re better then you can say, “Look, I’m doing a good job.”

You place a lot of value on social work, including reverting the income from books to institutions. How do you think children and teenagers can engage in these causes in a natural way that makes sense to them?

MP: I feel that children, young people, are very idealistic. They are committed to gender equality, environmental issues, and they are also very passionate about work, which I don’t think is bad. They are demanding that companies treat them better, offer good conditions, and have a positive impact on the world, taking care of the environment, paying employees well, not letting them be treated badly or disrespected. This leaves me very optimistic. My daughter says: “dad, when the pandemic ends, I want to go to work in a nursing home”. I had the chance to take my daughters to the institutions we helped, and they could see the importance of the work done.

When we talk about financial education, we reinforce that part of it has to go to donations. That it is good for others, for ourselves, and society, and that sharing our blessings is an important part of life. I think these conversations awaken in them the desire to help, as good examples come from actions. Sadly, human biological laziness absorbs bad examples too, and in a much faster, more immediate way. Daddy swears, and the child repeats it right away; daddy is disrespectful, responds immaturely, is rude, and off the child goes to do the same to someone else. This repetition takes less energy than the effort to be polite, to help others. That’s why these positive reinforcements are important, they have to be spoken and emphasized within the family, in public, whenever we can.

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hat’s your tip for first-time parents? And for those who want to reset some habits and try something new in their relationship with their children? Structurally, culturally, we will hear that you have to be very successful with finances, have material possessions and that these are the most important things in life. However, the big secret to a happy family is that it cannot be compared to other families, with others, it just investigates itself. Attentively and humbly, ask yourself, “Am I being the best husband I can be, the best wife, the best mother, the best father?” Exercising this investigation in a healthy, compassionate, non-anxious, and non-aggressive way, the family will develop and improve the family experience. No matter how much money you have, the size of your car, your apartment, what your child will really wants is your presence, your affection, your love. What they will want is your attention, because attention is love. And it costs nothing!

COVER INTERVIEW – MARCOS PIANGERS

FROM FATHER TO FATHER

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he process for “O papai é pop” to become a movie took a while. The first invitation to sell the book rights came in 2018.

In 2019 it was carried out. In 2020 the pandemic came, and only in 2021, it was confirmed. It was happening. For the main roles, none other than Paolla Oliveira and Lázaro Ramos, as well as Elisa Lucinda playing Piangers’ mother. Sixty days of shooting that had the same raw material as the book, pure emotion. A curious fact is that Marcos himself was invited to take part in the production, experiencing the film set. “I remember a costume designer saying the movie was beautiful and I asked her if she thought it would be a hit. The answer was: ‘look, there are many films that are successful, but there are few beautiful films like this one’. I also think the result will move people; when I watched the first cut I cried a lot, my mother saw it and cried a lot too; we got emotional as a family”.

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FROM THE PAGES TO THE SCREENS

By Maurício Oliveira Photos: Fernanda Caires

THREE GENERATIONS, STUDYING AT CHAPEL, A ONE STORY TRADITION THAT UNITES A GRANDMOTHER, THREE DAUGHTERS, AND (SO FAR) THREE GRANDCHILDREN

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his section of Inside Chapel is normally dedicated to an alumnus’ or alumna’s profile, but this time we will do it slightly differently: we will present the profile of a family. It is an account concerning the deep ties with the institution, which began over 70 years ago. Telling this story also means paying homage to the many other similar cases through which the experience of studying at Chapel has been transmitted from parents to children.

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The journey we shall tell you started in 1953, with a wedding, in São Paulo, between Vicente Vázquez, a Spaniard, and a Cuban, Mary Cid Vázquez. He had come to the country, at the age of 30, because of his job and she had already moved with her family as a teenager. Both of them met in the city during a wedding celebration in the Spanish community.

The couple’s first two daughters, Henrietta, born in 1954 and Charlotte born in 1957, were enrolled at Chapel, which was still in its first years of operation - the classes were taught by nuns who lived on the second floor of the building. The institution had been founded in 1947 as a Catholic school for American children and families living in São Paulo. Gradually, the school opened itself up to students with parents from other backgrounds.

ALUMNUS INTERVIEW – FAMÍLIA LOPES The Incentive to Reason The couple then decided to move to Canada. The girls continued their studies in Toronto, without any problems during their adaptation because of their plain mastery of the English language and the solid foundations that had been built at Chapel. All seemed to say that the family’s following steps would be taken over there - which in fact did happen for Henrietta, who is living today in

the United States. She is a teacher at a public school in Raleigh, North Carolina, certified to teach in any State in the country.

Charlotte’s journey was different, however. After her father’s death, she came to Brazil, at the age of 20 to take care of inventory-related issues. The original plan was to go back to Canada, but here she met José Eduardo, with whom she would eventually get married six months later.

The couple has 3 daughters: Carla, Débora, and Mônica, each born with only a year between them - respectively in 1980, 1981, and 1982. Charlotte insisted on enrolling them at Chapel because it shared the same vision that had driven her mother to choose that very institution, “It is the kind of education that helps you reason, to search for true comprehension of the content” she stated.

Multicultural Experience The three girls began their scholastic trajectory in 1985 and completed their whole school life at Chapel. “I think that the main benefit for my daughters was the exposure they had to different cultures, an essential factor for them to develop a broad worldview. I learned from my Mom that this is what was the most important.” Says Charlotte.

At the age of 41, the firstborn Carla fondly remembers the day-to-day life at school, but mainly the special events, like the 12th grade graduation. “I keep the senior yearbook, all signed, and also the music programs. I have the videos and every once in a while we watch them. All the events were well taken care of and we would feel very important.”

Carla enrolled in the Business Administration course at the Pontifícia

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They ended up choosing Chapel mainly because of Mary’s cosmopolitan view of things. “My mother wanted an education that would combine religious schooling with an international experience. And she found that very thing, at this young school that was just giving its first steps.” Remembers Charlotte, who spent four years at Chapel, while Henrietta stayed for eight.

Universidade Católica (Catholic Pontifical University) but 6 months after decided to change Universities while keeping the same course at the Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation) followed by a post-graduate in Marketing at the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (Superior School of Advertising and Marketing).

“The mastery of English made an enormous difference when looking for my first jobs, even during university,” she describes.

After having built a career in sales and marketing at multinational companies, Carla decided to begin a new activity and open a bakery. In 2018 she went to Madrid, Spain, to enroll in a course at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu. She returned to Brazil after two years, a time period which included a detour through Austria. “During this trip I reencountered friends from my time at Chapel. It was very cool to realize how strong these bonds really are.”

at Chapel was a natural decision. “I strongly believe in the school’s values and I am sure that this is the aspect that will most make a difference in their lives.

The most fundamental thing is that they are principled, generous people, and that is built upon the combination of the teaching offered at home and at school.”

She remembers many shared moments of her school life with her sisters, like the arrivals and departures by bus.

“We used to go while we were so sleepy in the morning, but on the way back it was a party. We made many friendships.” When the daughters started at school it was inevitable to have a trip down memory lane. “Up to today when I arrive at Chapel the places awaken memories of situations and people,” explains Débora - who graduated with a bachelor’s in Marketing and started to study Fashion, but interrupted her career while her daughters were young. Now she plans on returning, maybe to a different area.

Family Tradition

Fond Memories

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Despite all the academic benefits provided at Chapel, Carla considers the multicultural experience to be the most important benefit. “I had many friends who left because they were the children of expats. Since keeping in contact wasn’t as easy back then as it is now, this certainly helped me to deal with goodbyes and to value the present, without worrying too much with the future.”

Other than the emotional ties, the group of Chapel alumni forms a powerful network of professional contacts, because one of the school’s historical characteristics is to create a wide diversity of future career choices.

Furthermore, in the case of the three sisters who are all of a similar age, the friendships they built went beyond their respective grade levels and had many friends in common. “Whoever has studied at Chapel at the same time definitely has many affinities,” says the middle sister, Débora, age 40.

For her, placing her daughters Isabella and Sophia (13 and 11 years old respectively)

The youngest child Mônica, 38, is the director of Marketing at Nespresso in Brazil, a role she has just taken on a few months ago - the new step in a career that already has included work at BIC, Nestlé, and Gympass.

Following Carla’s example who studied Business Administration at FAAP, with a postgraduate at Insper.

Mônica’s professional experiences took her to live in Switzerland and Malaysia. When she was at Nestlé, she was responsible for the marketing of the NESCAU brand, and developed the project “Meninas fortes” (Strong Girls) together with Ogilvy Brasil agency, in order to motivate girls to play sports.

The campaign was awarded at the marketing festival at Cannes, in 2017, with the Glass Lion, an award dedicated to recognizing work that promotes gender equity.

For Mônica, the motivation to perform physical activities is one of Chapel’s strongholds. “Besides the fantastic facilities, people were encouraged to play sports, both boys and girls, something which I deem to have had

a great impact in my personal and professional development.”

Some of the closest friendships that she still has today are an inheritance from her time at Chapel. “It is a relationship that ends up being different from the ones later in life in adulthood because we grew up together. We went through joy, sadness, challenges, fights, and matured together. It is in these friendships that I find a helping hand, a stronger sense of belonging and a deeper connection. It is like we are family” These bonds have only become stronger by the fact that many members of the group nowadays have young children.

In Mônica’s case two boys, Thomas and Matheus, aged 4 and 2 respectively the eldest is at Chapel, following the family tradition.

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ALUMNUS INTERVIEW – FAMÍLIA LOPES

A call to action We are a project that fights for food security, change of consumption habits, and agroecology. It is an exercise in being the change we want to see in the world.

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Our collective raises funds by selling food baskets with food produced without pesticides by small farmers from the region of Osasco (SP), allowing us to donate food of the same quality to women-mothers in vulnerable situations.

Besides knowing where your food comes from and supporting small producers, you have the chance to become an agent of social transformation and change the reality around us.

You can order the solidarity food basket at linktr.ee/ecoz or contribute to our online “vakinha”(similar to gofundme).

(11) 94254-4074

@ecoz_cs

SHORT STORY – MARI BERNINI

By Mari Bernini Photos: Personal Archive

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A STRANGER’S PERFECT LIFE

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SHORT STORY – MARI BERNINI It is undeniable that technology has brought numerous advantages to present-day society, however, one of the toughest things brought on by the digital era is a propensity for comparison.

When we were young, the people to whom we compared ourselves were real.

It was a school friend, a neighbor, the cousin we ran into during family events.

People to whom we had a connection, those who we saw overcome an obstacle and admired for their accomplishments, hence a more fair comparison. With social media, this became unhealthy, for we compare ourselves to realities distant from our own, and begin to believe that these are the patterns we should conform to. But that’s not it…

What we see in social media is just a clipping of real life. People tend to share their best moments and those who

watch believe that that person’s life is only those moments. Then, come the frustrations. Not having the model’s perfect body, not having the famous actress’ dedicated husband, not having polite children like the bloggers, or even starting to think that you are failing your marriage or at forming a family because yours is not as incredible as those you see on social media. And so the comparisons become unfair!

When we watch a sad scene in a movie, we become emotional because our mind surrenders to the emotion the movie gives us… And the internet is the same. Sometimes we give in so much to this posted “reality” that we forget to evaluate our reality. Maybe the person who lives the perfect and envied life would like to be in our place, because we may be unaware of all that goes on behind the scenes in their lives. Everyone has fears, everyone has dreams that have not been fulfilled yet, everyone gets frustrated, sad, and

everyone has been through challenges that are hard to believe… But sometimes the digital bubble makes us wonder if these struggles are exclusively ours. This is not the case.

Our life is important, our family is special.

We need to stop and realize challenging moments make us grow, make us evolve, and take us to where we aspire to be.

And so we realize that our life is perfectly wonderful just as we need it to be. We should know once and for all that we are good mothers to our children, just the way they need us to be. Who said the faults/mistakes we commit are only our own? We are all making mistakes, working, making an effort, paying bills, and trying not to freak out. After all, perfection is merely a projection.

Life needs to be focused on what really matters, being grateful for all we have.

May this be our daily exercise: to thank and enjoy reality as we have it and suffer less with the reality that others post.

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our family is not perfect. My family is not perfect either. And, honestly? I’m glad that is the case!

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SPOTLIGHT

PORTFOLIO FAVORS STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN OWN LEARNING

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dopted by Chapel as of second grade, the Student Learning Portfolio (SLP) is a document completed by students every semester, in which they record their academic growth in different content areas, as well as their social-emotional development. In the Elementary School grades, students reflect on their progress in three main content areas; Literacy, Math and CARES (an acronym for Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-regulation). In High School, students make a document for each subject in the curriculum.

SPOTLIGHT Students start their reflection by observing the content areas which they master, as well as skills developed, and then record what they do well. Then, students think about points to improve and establish goals to meet. From there, they outline strategies to meet the objectives they determined themselves.

“It is very interesting because the portfolio allows a student reflection and brings autonomy for them to think about what they have learned, what they have accomplished, and for them to realize it is a process, what they intend to set as goals in their learning process, and what the plan is to reach them,” explains Stella Santos, second-grade teacher. She adds, “It is important for them to understand that to establish goals in life, we must go step by step, and think about what is attainable so they do not become frustrations.” For this, even though students complete their portfolios independently, teachers guide them to set realistic goals according to their grade level curriculum. “When a child sets a goal, they do everything to achieve it. Students get very excited and begin to work immediately,” comments Gabriela Pezoa, second-grade teacher. According to her, one of the most interesting aspects of this tool “is they first think about what they are already good at, and then reflect on what they want to improve.”

Pause for Reflection Portfolios are revisited throughout the semesters for a new reflection phase. “Mid-semester students reread everything they wrote and autonomously evaluate if they understood their goals and their importance and if they are in fact working to achieve them and asking for help when needed,” explains Ms. Santos. She claims it is essential for students to know if they are on the right track to achieve their goals and in this phase, they can also add more strategies in case they are facing challenges. Teacher Maxine Rendtorff, who teaches High School English and Theater, considers the portfolio a great student reflection tool. “At the same time students realize where they need to improve, they also celebrate

their accomplishments, boosting their learning confidence.”

She remembers that the document’s learning objectives are described in a language for students, without technical terminology, making it extremely accessible.

Another important portfolio characteristic is that they are not standard, they adapt according to each subject’s specifications. “In Arts, for example, each student established learning goals according to the techniques that will be used.

Learning becomes more meaningful because it is not the teacher telling students what to do, but rather students reflecting on their practices,” confirms Sylvia Almeida, High School Visual Arts teacher. This is a very important point, portfolios are student-centered, who in turn become more responsible for their learning.

Evidence and Feedback At the end of the semester, students revisit their portfolios intending to check if they have met their goals or are still working towards achieving them. At this time, besides receiving feedback from teachers, learning evidence is attached to the document. “In case there is a social-emotional skill that was mastered, teacher comments serve as evidence.

With others, evidence can be activities, tests, projects, amongst others,” confirms Ms. Pezoa. “In Arts, we usually annex pictures of works produced throughout the semester to show the technical progress,” explains Ms. Almeida.

During parent conferences, portfolios are shared with families.

During these times, students themselves present it to parents and teachers, showing their development in each subject or content area. “This document is a great conversation starter with parents, it is a way for students to communicate and show their progress,” confirms Ms. Rendtorff. “More than a guide for parent meetings, the portfolio makes way for a positive and involving approach, for we first present the positive points then talk about the problem, and already set point to a solution,” concludes Ms. Almeida.

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Step by Step

CHILDREN’S DAY IS CELEBRATED WITH MAKER’S EDUCATION PROJECT

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n October 8th, Elementary School students celebrated Children’s Day differently, creating and building their own projects using art and technology. It all started when ES Principal, Juliana Menezes, asked for ideas for students to celebrate the day in a more meaningful way. It was then that Karina Wenda, lead teacher in Maker Education, suggested activities for all grade levels, envisioning children’s developmental stages according to their age. The first step was to create a workshop in which teachers and assistants had the opportunity to experience each proposed project. By experiencing being the students, teachers could anticipate the joys and anxieties of being exposed to an unknown activity, to which they should problem-solve creatively.

answers. With every problem not answered, their thought process was stimulated to find a creative solution.”

1st and 2nd Grades: Parachute After reading “Jack and the Beanstalk”, first and second-grade students were challenged to help Jack, who was stuck in the giant’s castle, safely come down. For this, they had to build a working parachute to come down from the beanstalk and land safely. A big beanstalk was set up on the court, where the activities took place, and students would launch their parachutes off the beanstalk to test their creations.

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Third and Fourth Grades: Pop-It “From the point of view of the event’s pioneer, and the one who brought Maker Education into practice for teachers, the experience was very deep because I could count on everyone’s collaboration, teachers and assistants, no exception, who were involved in an unconditional partnership to make an event that brought smiles and happiness that children felt for being at school,” comments Ms. Wenda. She said she saw children very happy and excited with the activities. “And they all proudly took their creations home. Together everyone made an unforgettable day,” she says emotionally. According to Art Teacher, Cristina El Dib, “it was a very intense day, and very productive. Everyone left happy. Teachers were pleased, students accomplished.”

She says that in the groups she accompanied, students were collaborating with classmates who faced difficulties. “This is one of the focuses of Maker Education,” she points out. According to Technology Teacher, Otávio Garcia, teachers were instructed not to intervene, “for the Maker culture is based on the premise that students should find creative solutions for problems themselves,” he confirms, and adds, “The key to success, beyond the students’ collaboration, was not giving them the

The famous silicon toy was reproduced by students using various materials: paper, cardboard, tape, and plastic sticky paper. The huge challenge here was for students to problemsolve to make the toy work, without ripping, for example.

During the Pop-It’s construction, many fine-motor skills challenges arose, such as cutting the thick cardboard, gluing many layers of paper and cardboard, applying the sticky plastic paper without any air bubbles. Students had to think of creative solutions and work collaboratively.

Fifth and Sixth Grades: Artbot The project for the upper grades in Elementary School was to build a robot that moved while drawing on paper, thus the markers attached to it. The robot’s body was made from cardboard and relied on DC engines which ran on batteries for its electrical part. Besides the challenges of building a circuit board for the first time, students had to problem-solve many technical issues to see their machines working.

SPOTLIGHT

HIGH SCHOOLS STUDENTS’ ART WORK ARE ASSEMBLED ON A WEBSITE

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fter its creative production, the artistic process is only enhanced with the aesthetic appreciation that follows. This is the reason why Chapel has always displayed its students’ artistic productions at the end of each semester in exhibitions open to the community. With the COVID-19 pandemic, art classes, along with all other subjects, were remote, and these expositions were suspended. “During this time, only the artistic production was in place, the appreciation was lost since I could only show the work during class to their respective classmates by sharing my computer screen. Which was very limited,” says Ms. Sylvia, High School Arts teacher. Ms. Almeida was inspired upon receiving an invitation to a virtual art exhibition. “I thought it was incredible and I spent the first semester of 2021 searching for a solution to fit our needs,” she says. For this, she immersed herself in the study of Google Sites, which intuitively allow website creation.

The art website will also work as an archive, which will include current and past expositions, now photographed by the teacher.

“All the artwork in my digital archive is being added. Therefore, students and former students can find their work there, it is a live website,” she says. In it, you can find complete expositions for 7th to 12th-grade students, the 2020-2021 IB Arts exhibition, as well as all artwork produced during the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year. IB Arts and High School artistic productions can be appreciated in: https://sites.google.com/chapelschool.com/mainartexhibition/home

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Through extensive research, the teacher gathered and photographed all High School students’ work and fed the website, organizing them by grade, and within that by techniques used, accompanied by captions and descriptive texts. With this, Ms. Almeida was able to resume art expositions. “I released the website to families in June 2021, for the art appreciation to come back. The repercussions were so good that even though we are back on campus, we have not abandoned our online exhibitions,” celebrates Ms. Almeida, while recalling that in-person expositions are back and will be assembled.

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TALENTS & PASSIONS In the next pages, meet a teacher who dedicates herself to the rescue and care of abandoned animals and a couple whose aim is to get to know the South American nature reserves.

Get to know the seven students from 6th to 12th grade who have stood out for their athletic ability, their artistic development - like painting, music, singing and dancing - and dedicate themselves to clubs, volunteering outreach and entrepreneurship.

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TALENTS & PASSIONS

F

rom this issue onwards, the section on Talents & Passions will bring news. Now, besides students’ abilities and predilections, this section will include teachers’ hobbies beyond the classroom.

“I REALLY TAKE PRIDE IN THE LOVE I HAVE TO GIVE AND FOR THE CARE, I HAVE FOR ALL OF NATURE IN GENERAL”

ELIZABETH NOEL-MORGAN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Having spent her childhood on a farm, Elizabeth Noel-Morgan developed a very loving relationship with the most varied of animals. “On the veranda at home, parrots and toucans would fly freely,” reminisces the Kindergarten teacher, who has taught at Chapel for over twenty years.

Everyone at the ECEC knew Cupcake, the small rabbit, who under the teacher and her student’s care achieved the incredible feat of living for over nine years, and remains alive in the memory of students long gone. At the time it was usual for there to be a few pets at school so that a sense of responsibility and care for animals might be fostered in children. Once a small cat was found by chance between the roots of a tree close to the school. It was noticeably weak and was also adopted and is now dear to its current owner.

These two stories illustrate the loving relationship between Ms. Noel-Morgan and nature well. The teacher spends her weekends in the company of her brother Edward and her sister in law who live on the shores of a reservoir. Their house is a sanctuary of sorts because it is getting constant visits from birds like toucans, parrots, Pipile Jacutinga, and other wild animals.

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Ms. Noel-Morgan claims to be highly satisfied with her work with the children and animals, because, according to her, it is a talent and a gift that brings her much joy. “I really take pride in the love I have to give and for the care I have for all of nature in general,” she concludes. Inspired by having witnessed this rich harmony with nature, her classroom’s symbol is the beehive, for she encourages discipline, mutual help, cooperation, and teamwork.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

“AS WELL AS ALL THINGS RELATED TO OUR PROFESSION WE ARE BOTH PASSIONATE FOR TRAVELING AND WE LOVE EXPLORING BRAZIL” – ÉRICO PADILHA

KAHLIE GRAVES AND ÉRICO PADILHA ADVENTURES IN NATURE Getting to know the national and state parks in Brazil and traveling South America discovering their natural beauty are some of the many objectives that teachers Kahlie Graves and Érico Padilha have already begun to achieve over the past nine years. Ever since they met each other at Chapel they discovered they had much more in common than just their profession. “As well as all things related to our profession, we are both passionate for traveling and we love exploring Brazil,” says Mr. Padilha, the Brazilian Social Studies teacher. He is Ms. Graves’ partner, a 1st grade teacher, and they have gone on around 40 nature trips in and out of the country. “I have always enjoyed traveling. It is one of the reasons I moved to Brazil and besides being able to have the experience of teaching at an international school I also am able to explore South America,” explains Ms. Graves, a New York native.

Avoiding the traditional tourist routes, the couple chooses destinations that have a path to be explored. For these trips, they have a four-by-four pickup truck modified to fit their adventurous needs, as well as having tents for camping and other accessories. Their first long trip in the pick-up truck was also their longest ever and took 23 days. They left São Paulo and went to Rio Grande do Sul, crossed Argentina, the Andes, and went to Santiago, Chile and from there carried on to the Atacama. One of their greatest challenges was, according to them, to avoid leaving any trash or waste behind them.

The couple’s trips aren’t limited to their holidays. “We also are used to traveling to closer destinations in São Paulo, which we are able to do in two or three days,” says Ms. Graves, mentioning the waterfalls in Bueno Brandão (MG), the Pedra do Baú, and Pico dos Marins in Piquete (SP). The couple doesn’t normally revisit places and they intend on getting to know the Chapada das Mesas national park, in the south of Maranhão. They have documented their adventures on Instagram and can be followed at #brazilyouresopretty.

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Here in Brazil they have visited the Chapada (plateau) Diamantina (BA), Guimarães (MT), Veadeiros (GO), the Jalapão (TO) state park, the Lençóis Maranhenses (MA), Serra dos Órgãos, and Itatiaia National Parks (RJ). They have already explored the caves at PETAR (Alto Ribeira State and Tourist Park) in São Paulo, and discovered the beauty of the Terra Ronca state park in Goias. “There are a set of underground tunnels that are gorgeous,” says Mr. Padilha appreciatively. One of their prefered destinations is Serra da Canastra national park (MG): “It is a striking place because of all the natural beauty; it is where the São Francisco river starts and since it is in Minas, besides being close by, there are many bucolic towns that have marvelous food to offer,” he points out.

“I PLAY SPORTS EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. SOCCER IS MY FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY EVEN ON THE VIDEOGAME, BUT I ALSO PLAY BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL AND TENNIS AND I LIKE SWIMMING AND PLAYING WATER SPORTS”

DAVI CHOO EVERYDAY IS SPORTS DAY Enthusiastic about sports, Davi Choo who is only 12 already plays a variety of them. At Chapel through the Young Trojans program he plays soccer, basketball and volleyball, and outside of school he takes tennis classes. Furthermore, the 6th grader enjoys swimming and other aquatic activities, like surfing and stand-up paddleboarding. His favorite sport is soccer and has played it since he was 6 years old. “I started playing at my condo’s indoor court and then started practicing at Chapel too,” explains the midfielder and Corinthians fan. Watching soccer games is something Davi also appreciates. He happily recounts the time when he had the opportunity to watch the Brazilian soccer team beat the Chileans in the 2018 World Cup finals match at Allianz Parque stadium in São Paulo. It is no coincidence that Davi’s favorite part of Chapel is the soccer field. He also adds, “I really like the food, which is great and I also love the teachers who are kind and caring.” On the topic of food, cooking is also one of his interests, and from a young age he has followed his mom in the kitchen, while she prepared cakes and other treats. During the pandemic, Davi participated in some virtual cooking classes given by the school and learnt a lot. “I prefer to make sweets, cakes and puddings, mainly ones with condensed milk and tapioca,” he explains. To eat, his favorite dish is a Korean speciality called bibimpah, which is made of rice, vegetables, meat,eggs and finished off with a spicy sauce which combines all the flavors. But this dish he does not prepare, his mother, an excellent cook, is the one who does.

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During his leisure time, besides playing sports he also likes to play Fifa on his video game. Davi likes playing with his brother, who is ten and is currently in the 4th grade at Chapel. “We get along very well. When we have a fight, we usually resolve things quickly and go back to playing,” he says proudly.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

“DOING WHAT I LIKE MAKES ME HAPPY AND I VALUE THAT A LOT. BUT FACING ALL I HAVE TO DO AND WHAT I STILL WANT TO DO, THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME LEFT”

BIANCA DARIPA DEDICATION TO THE ARTS AND VOLLEYBALL Bianca Daripa’s interest in the visual arts began so early on and so genuinely that at the age of 7 she started having classes with a private tutor with whom she learnt many techniques. “I particularly like to make art with ceramics and realistic drawing. Although sometimes, I do like to paint abstract squares and geometric forms,” explains the young 14-year-old. She has been at Chapel since Kindergarten and is an avid reader who appreciates all fictional genres especially fantastical realism and thrillers. However, she wasn’t always like this. Bianca tells us that up to the third grade she didn’t like reading because her English wasn’t that good, only her Portuguese was. However, from fourth grade onwards, that changed “Chapel always encouraged reading and when I started understanding English better I let loose and began reading a lot and nowadays I love it,” says the 8th grader.

Another of Bianca’s passions is volleyball, which she started to play at school as an extracurricular activity, and for around two years she has now begun training at Pinheiros Sports Club, where she is a member. As she got closer to joining the main team her training routine got more intense, making her time to invest in other activities scarce. Dancing is one of those other activities. After having danced classical ballet for nine years, the young girl is excited to begin contemporary dance, but struggles to have all her appointments fit in her agenda. “Doing what I like makes me happy and I value that a lot. But facing all I have to do and what I still want to do, there is not much time left,” she confesses. For this reason, she has her mother’s support who helps her organize her routine and also gives her French lessons to get her ready for her High School elective.

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When she was 11 she joined the Brazilian CISV (Children’s International Summer Villages) delegation, an international organization that promotes education for peace and intercultural friendship. After a long application process, she spent one week in Japan interacting with children from other countries and learning about new cultures.

“I REALLY LIKE BEING PART OF SOMETHING. I PARTICIPATE IN STUCO AND CAN’T WAIT TO BE ABLE TO FOLLOW MY DAD IN HIS VOLUNTEERING ACTIVITIES IN THE LESS FORTUNATE COMMUNITIES”

PAULA LINS ENGAGED IN PROJECTS Having been at Chapel for a little over two years, Paula Lins was born in Brazil, but at the age of 5 moved with her family to England and then three years later went to Spain, only to come back to Brazil in 2019.

What she most enjoys at school are the people and the sports. “Besides my friends, I like the people at Chapel in general and I love sports. Recently I started volleyball,” she tells us. From a young age, she has done swimming and participated in many championships.

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She is a creative 7th-grade student and enjoys arts and hands-on work, she also loves experimenting in the kitchen. “Once I wanted to make a cupcake but I didn’t have the recipe’s ingredients. I substituted them using my imagination and it worked out,” she recalls. When she is making art she also likes to innovate: “I prefer to make creative art and paint objects instead of a canvas. On one occasion on holiday at the beach, I drew and painted on some sea shells,” she remembered.

Paula really appreciates being able to participate in projects and this is one of the reasons that ledher to enroll in StuCo, the Student Council here at Chapel, at the beginning of the school year. One of her first activities at Chapel was to help organize the Pep Rally, the celebration that aims at inspiring the school’s athletes at the beginning of the sporting season. “I like the moment we organize the material and love being part of something,” she explains. When the school took part in the “Mi Casa, Tu Casa” project, in which they would donate books and writing materials to the young Venezuelan refugees and those sheltered in Roraima, Paula was very involved, she collaborated by donating books and writing letters to the refugees. Whenever she can, she participates with her dad in the events organized by the Assistance Without Borders Association (Associação Assistência sem Fronteiras), a charity founded at the start of the covid-19 pandemic to distribute food to people in vulnerable situations. Her father works weekly with food distribution, but she can’t go along yet because of her age. “But there are always donation events and I go to those. I am very proud of my dad because he helps others,” affirms the young girl.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

“ROCK CLIMBING IS MY GREATEST PLEASURE. I ALSO LOVE STUDYING VERY SPECIFIC AND DIFFERENT TOPICS - SOME MAY BE STRANGE TO OTHERS - AND TO BE MASTERFUL OF SUCH TOPICS”

MARTA FONTES DE CASTRO PASSION FOR KNOWLEDGE As the interview begins, Marta Fontes de Castro tells us that her hobbies and interests may appear weird and specific, like for example, her fascination with the late 19th Century artistic-intellectual movement of which Oscar Wilde was one of its main representatives. What she is talking about is Aestheticism, whose followers championed the idea that Art should not be judged by morality, believing its role to be the elevation of Aesthetics and beauty and not political or social values. “This is a topic I love, but I don’t ask myself why,” notes the 10th grader who has been in Brazil - and at Chapel - for almost two years.

Born in Brussels because her parents used to work there, she spent a few weeks in Belgium before returning to Portugal, her family’s homeland. After seven years the family went to France where they stayed for five years, and then to Switzerland where they lived for another two years before coming to Brazil. This is one of the reasons that this young 15-year-old girl is able to speak four languages Portuguese, English, French and Spanish - or “three and a half”, according to her, since she doesn’t write resourcefully in Spanish. She takes pleasure in reading and begins multiple books at the same time. “I have read many Sherlock Holmes books but I also like variety, I read detective stories in comic books and even some horror stories. I love graphic novels,” she says.

The sports are also among her preferred activities, she practices volleyball at Chapel and outside school, she usually goes skateboarding and wake surfing, as well as bouldering - a climbing sport done on smaller rock formations or indoor walls without any equipment. “I did a lot of bouldering in Switzerland and Portugal. Here in Brazil I still haven’t found an interesting place to try it out,” she concludes.

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Her incursion into the arts also includes drawing - which she began to try out three years ago when a family friend taught her some techniques - singing and theater. “I always sang and recently I have started having private lessons. I also like acting and consequently besides being part of the Drama Club I am also going to theater class,” she tells us.

“I LIKE COMPANY. SPENDING TIME WITH FAMILY, MY FRIENDS AND PEOPLE I LOVE, IT MAKES ME HAPPY. I ALSO LOVE RIDING MY BIKE AND GOING FOR STROLLS WITH MY DOGS, MOANA, PINK AND AISHA”

LORETA DELEUSE CARE AND AFFECTION FOR ANIMALS Encouraged by her grandmother and gifted with a lot of creativity, Loreta Deleuze has always appreciated art and design. “My grandmother paints very well and every time we can, we paint together; it is something that we love to do. I also like design, and ever since I was young I would constantly change the furniture around in my room and I love transforming environments,” explains the 15-year-old. With her parents’ help, who trust her abilities, she takes part in the decisions made when decorating the house. “It’s a stroke of luck that I have very similar taste to my mom, who ends up agreeing with me when I state my opinion about interior design,” she explains.

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Loreta has been at Chapel from the age of 3 and played volleyball for some time, but for the past three years, she has been playing soccer, having become a member of the girls’ Junior Varsity team. “It is a sport I love to play and I made many friendships because of it, which is something really important to me,” affirms the midfielder - and at times striker - who has improved her performance in the same measure that she has spent practicing. Outside school she has done swimming for four years. Similar physical activities too, she likes riding bikes and meeting friends around her neighborhood. Another activity, which she has dedicated herself to is to help find new adoptive homes for abandoned dogs. Loreta says that she was encouraged by her mother, who is a member of the neighborhood collective at Alto da Boa Vista that rescues, feeds and takes care of abandoned dogs or ones that have been made victims by mistreatment.

“Having lived with dogs that spend a period of time here at my home, I realized that it is something that really interests me, and I think that is because I have always have had dogs at home,” she elucidates.

Currently she has three of them with whom she loves to go on strolls with: Moana, Pink and Aisha.

At Chapel what has most impacted her was the reception she first experienced when she joined the school: “I am very shy, but I soon made many friends on the first day of school, and people comment up to today that I was able to become part of the group quickly,” says the young girl, who enjoys spending time with dear ones, besides enjoying time spent with family and her dogs.

TALENTS & PASSIONS

“ONE PROJECT LEADS TO ANOTHER AND THEY ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED. I CONFESS THAT IT ISN’T EASY TO BALANCE STUDIES - MAINLY THE IB - WITH MY PROJECTS, BUT IT IS VERY REWARDING”

FRANCISCO PRADO BORN AN ENTREPRENEUR Francisco Prado is only 19 years old, but is already doing business like a professional with years of experience. He is about to finish High School and is engaged in projects in and out of Chapel. At school, where he has been since 2019, he is a member of StuCo (Student Council) and NHS (National Honor Society), where he holds the office of secretary. Besides these activities, he also is in charge of four other projects: a production company, an online store for male accessories and a video editing platform, all focused on making products and services more accessible to the market. He also develops and produces music that he considers a hobby. “I always liked interacting at school, developing ideas and collaborating with others. This is reflected in the work that I do outside,” explains the student.

Francisco tells us that his knowledge of Music, Art, and Design, acquired throughout his school life, and his effort to master video editing software and programming, including websites, helps him have new ideas, propelling other projects. “My understanding of digital design for example has allowed me to create a logo for StuCo and all its visual identity for the council,” the young musician who experiments with the cello, piano, drum kit and guitar. He confesses that it is not easy to balance his studies - mainly the IB – with his projects and social life, but it is very rewarding. With such aptitude to learn and to do business, it is no accident that his goal is to study Business with a focus on innovation, the subject that concerns most of his applications to colleges in the United States.

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At this moment his main project is an app called Edink, a digital platform that connects video and photo editors to companies interested in such services. Idealized two years ago he is about to launch the project officially. “It is my biggest project and it is the one I have enjoyed the most. At the pre-launch, we registered more than one hundred editors and at sometime this year it should already be operational. It is going to be very intuitive and easy to use,” he says. His interest for film production has been present since the age of 13 when he and a friend enrolled in a holiday course at the São Paulo International Academy of Cinema (Academia Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo). Not long afterwards they founded Light Films and began producing for family events. As time went on they started producing corporate and commercial and short films. “The production company opened many doors, one project led to another and in the end, all of them are interconnected,” he states.

“BEING THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE MUN MEANS TO BE THE LEADER OF A GROUP WHERE EVERYONE SHARES THE SAME PASSION WHICH IS TO DEBATE”

TONI SERRES AN INTEREST IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS Born is Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), where he lived until the age of 9, Toni Serres become interested in politics and economics because of the separatist conflict established for years in the region. “We Catalans have our own language and culture and that is why we want independence and all this is very present in my family, who is supportive of the separatist cause,” explains the 16-year-old, 11th grader. Having followed the discussion of such topics with his family created in him a genuine interest for politics in general, notably that which concerns conflicts and their resolution. “I began to follow international politics on the internet and nowadays this is just natural to me,” he remarks.

For three years Toni, who has been at Chapel since the 6th grade joined the MUN (Model United Nations), which encourages students to engage in the elaboration of global agendas and conflict and international dispute resolutions, taking part in mock UN assemblies. “When I enrolled in this club, besides having to follow the politics of large world nations, I also had to begin researching about the smaller countries, without a lot media coverage, but still go through interesting political conflict,” he says, further explaining that he enjoys doing research in order to find out what exactly is going on in these territories beyond our reach.

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In the six MUN conferences that he participated in, the ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) is where he was most active, although his preferred committee was the Security Council, which are much more interesting discussion topics in his opinion. Currently, Toni holds office as the vice president of the club, a role which demands much administrative responsibility, which he shares with two other students president and secretary general - and with the lead teacher, Donald Campbell. “Being the vice president of the MUN means to be the leader of a group where everyone shares the same passion which is to debate.

However, a big responsibility is to establish and facilitate connections between the students and the conferences,” he says.

Beyond the political topics, he has played the drum kit for three years and enjoys playing soccer - he is part of the Varsity team at Chapel - and often plays pádel, a common Spanish sport, played as doubles with rackets and a ball.

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he special mass that celebrated First Communion for Elementary School students, games and activities to celebrate Children’s Day, and fun costumes for Halloween and Spirit Week were some of the events that marked the past semester at Chapel. Check in the next pages photos from these moments of union and friendship that brought together the school community.