MAGAZINE
EARLY YEARS KIDS EXPLORE A PROJECT ABOUT THE DNA
THE FUTURE AND THE CULTURES WE LIVE IN TODAY
1202 * REBOTCO 7#
SPOTLIGHT
10
EDITORIAL
How are we shaping the future?
SERVICE LEARNING Concept students are dedicated to projects of solidary learning
THE DNA AND THE FUTURE Grade 1 project explores concepts about genetics and evolution
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CHILDHOOD CULTURE
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CRUISING TOGETHER!
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THE CULTURE MAP
A connection between our students and Afghan children
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT! The importance of mindful eating
THE NOBEL WINNER AND US Watch video testimonials from parents, students and educators
TESTIMONIALS Watch video testimonials from parents, students and educators
Concept School launches Mentoring Program
Leadership team dedicated to book study
STUDENT'S TALE the missing part in my life
PREVIOUS EDITIONS Get involved in our community through Spotlight magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 6
EDITORIAL
HOW ARE WE SHAPING THE FUTURE?
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In every issue of our SPOTLIGHT magazine, we emphasize what is common among the themes presented, in order to find a central theme. This time, the idea of developing and paying attention to a cultural aspect is repeated a few times, so the guiding question for this publication is: How are the cultures of today shaping the future we want for our children? Be it in our understanding and belief that the child is a producer of culture, and for this they must have time, freedom of expression and lots of fun in their routine. Be it in the study group of the book "The Culture Map", which the school leaders are participating in. Or else in the way we give learners voice to guide proposals based on their doubts, interests and curiosities. At Escola Concept, we are always attentive to practice what we understand as our purpose. By the way, do you know our mission? It states that: "Escola Concept offers an academically rigorous, challenging, inclusive, global education designed to develop happy and thoughtful human beings who positively impact the world we live in". With the sincere wish that you are observing the result of this mission in your child.
We wish you a good read!
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MIDDLE SCHOOL
SERVICE LEARNING
Did you know that starting in grade 6, Concept learners must spend 30 to 100 hours per year on caring service-learning projects? Understand the motivations of this proposal and get to know some of the current projects. by Camila Icassatti, Communications and Marketing Lead, Escola Concept São Paulo
Here at Escola Concept, we share a vision that learning only makes sense when it finds practical application in life. We aim to make students aware of these connections at all times, whether they are doing a math calculation, studying history, writing a text, or participating in a "visible thinking routine." That is why we use the project-based learning approach. For this reason, we also connect what is being seen in class with a Global Sustainable Development Goal. As learners grow, we take them further. We encourage them to get involved in solidary learning projects, which we call Service Learning. They have to choose a real-life problem or NGO to connect to and plan their activities to benefit someone outside their immediate community circle. 06 | spotlight -october 2021
SOME OF THE ONGOING PROJECTS At Escola Concept São Paulo, we have the example of the brothers Thomás and Heitor Campos, from Grade 9 and 6, respectively. They are soccer fans and players and have created a project to collect and donate soccer boots for children assisted by a philanthropic institution in the city. "We got 38 pairs of soccer shoes and 84 team shirts, in addition to 50 bikes, some of them needing repair. So we started a second project, with my father, and we took a course in bicycle mechanics, involving other people to help with the repairs.," says Thomas. We also highlight the project of other brothers, the 6th graders’ twins Lorenzo and Anna Fiorella Baldi. They contacted an NGO that helps the homeless to understand what their needs were and how they could support them. They produced posters and are preparing hygiene kits, with soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. And we have many learners involved in recycling projects for coffee capsules, tetra pack bottles, caps, Invisalign, among others.
"We talk a lot about donating time and talent, as an alternative to donating money or material goods", says Patrícia Busico, Middle School Counselor. To encourage them, the hours dedicated to tasks such as organization, communication, and advertising, are also included in the counting. "Service-Learning is not a one-way donation. It is an exchange that also ends up transforming us", summarizes Patrícia.
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A win-win game The expression Service Learning refers to a practice that is sometimes confused with volunteering. However, it's a little different, as it comes in as a component of the curriculum, so there's also a focus on developing the person who donates their time. Check out the main features that you will develop with the learning service below?
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Becoming a leader: You can discover your skills to lead teams and do good work in and out of school. Being a protagonist: taking on responsibilities can transform you as a student and as a human being. Helping your community: Through your commitment you can inspire and help many people. Preparing for the future: when you are engaged with projects you can get bonuses that will enhance your academic record. Providing knowledge: by actively participating in the projects, you can involve your class and teachers to also contribute in different ways. In addition to bringing important debates to improve and expand the projects. Making new friends: who doesn't like to make new friends? When you are inspired to participate, in addition to everything you'll learn, you'll have the opportunity to build new friendships that, for sure, will be very special.
PROJECT
DNA AND THE FUTURE
Yes, 7-year-old kids can learn concepts of genetics, evolution, habitats, and sustainability – in a project with lightness and a lot of creativity Fernanda Zajd, Grade 1 educator, Escola Concept São Paulo
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A good project does not end, it becomes another one. São Paulo's Grade 1D investigation focusing on the evolution of writing – guided by the essential question "How do records of the past connect us to the present?" –, motivated and instigated the class to research their own stories and memories, as well as those of their families and community around them. We ended the semester talking about the tools of the past and the technologies we currently have. In the first week of returning from the July vacation, a learner shared: “Teacher, are we going to the future now? How about a mockup of the city of the future?” Immediately, the new project took shape, or rather its sequel. Titled "What futures can we imagine and design?".
During a proposal whose objective was to relate writing from 1 to 100, with its respective numerical representation, the students challenged themselves and asked us to advance to 1000. When reaching 1000, they wanted to go on to 10,000. When I said: "Guys, this way we'll count all day long!" And a learner reflected: "It will become infinite!". This observation generated many questions in the class: "What number do you use to make infinite?" With the explanation of the infinity symbol, a student stood up, walked to the blackboard and reflected: "This symbol looks like DNA." spotlight -october 2021 | 11
Tipping point! That was when our learning pathway took a turn! We dove deep into DNA and its functions, which led to several connections, curiosities, and questions: “Does food have DNA?”; "Tomato has because I planted it." “So juice from a box doesn't have DNA because it's not real fruit.”; “Do we have letters inside us?”; “DNA wraps itself like my elastic bracelet”; "If DNA tells us what we're going to be like, if I open my body and enter the cell, will I know the future?"; “DNA is our body's recipe”, “Is all DNA the same?”. With so many paths to follow, one discovery stood out: 99% of human DNA is the same, and it is exactly the 1% that makes each one of us unique.
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Cooking Class By giving voice to learners, we want to test their hypotheses in a cooking class. So we chose the recipe of Nest Milk cake and changed Nest Milk for
Nutella to test if that only 1% difference is capable of changing that much. The cooking class proved to be reflective and fun, enabling learners to extend their theoretical knowledge into practice: “Teacher, we just changed a little thing and became something else, equal to 1% of DNA. You have to follow the recipe!”.
DNA structure After understanding the function of DNA, we use Styrofoam pellets, nylon
thread and lettered beads to build our DNA structure, and proudly display it in our reference space. From DNA to evolution it was a leap, or rather, just a few comments away: "When DNA changes, you evolve."; "When something is old, it evolves."; "Evolution makes animals stronger and faster."
Darwin explains Even though the learners in my class are only 7 years old, I understood that we could explore the origin of species and Darwin's theory of natural selection. We did this through surveys. Each student chose a species to research at home and see how they changed over time. We also experienced the theory of natural selection with games and scavenger hunts, in which students had, for example, their feet tied, or there were hidden clues as a camouflage. The games made the students realize how certain adaptive advantages helped to solve the challenges.
Forest or North Pole? We still had another very important moment in the project, when we transformed our learning
habitats. Half the room space into two distinct became a rainforest and the other the North Pole. Learners helped with the setting, producing trunks and vines, collecting leaves and branches, and bringing their stuffed toys and dolls from home to display in each habitat. They registered their learning by answering which animals live in which habitats and why? They also listed what adaptive advantages they have to survive there.
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As a final proposal, we took advantage of the evolution theme to reflect on the group's own learning evolution, and one learner proudly concluded: "It was a child's work, but it looks like a teenager's one."
Celebrating the Culture of Childhood A connection between our students and Afghan children Play, imagine, create! Every childhood should be filled with moments for fun and for the free expression of questions and curiosities that arise when they are playing or doing everyday activities. During the Peace and Sustainability Week, Grade 5 learners at Escola Concept Salvador reflected on the situation of children who grow up and live in areas of risk or war, as is the case with Afghan children. The initiative was an awakening to the rights and cultures of children who live in a different reality than the students, and it led them to want to send Afghan children a message of solidarity and affection! So their educators established a partnership with the Center for the Dissemination of Islam for Latin America, in São Paulo, which will send letters written by Concept learners to be handed to Afghan children.
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ALIMENTAÇÃO
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT! The importance of mindful eating
Larissa Vidal, Marketing analyst, Escola Concept Salvador
Being present when we eat is fundamental to our health and nutrition. By avoiding all kinds of distractions at mealtimes, such as television and cell phones, we can focus on the food, smell, texture, taste, and our entire body enjoys the process of eating. Engaged with this proposal, and in order to promote well-being, Kindergarten A and B learners at Escola Concept Salvador developed the project: What are the benefits of mindful eating? Learners have been practicing mindful eating by observing what, how, where, when, and why we eat. In addition, they created an authorial song where they talk about conscious eating, sustainability, and well-being.
Give it a play and enjoy the clips learners recorded!
Kinder B
Kinder A
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We love food
(letra da música, composta em inglês) WE LOVE FOOD WE LOVE FOOD MINDFUL EATING MAKES US FEEL SO GOOD WE LOVE FOOD WE LOVE FOOD MINDFUL EATING IN A HAPPY MOOD BUT WE HAVE A BIG BIG PROBLEM FOOD WASTE IS A BAD BAD CUSTOM CONCEPT LEARNERS LET'S MAKE A DIFFERENCE LISTEN TO THE TIPS TO USE YOUR INTELLIGENCE TAKE WHAT YOU EAT EAT WHAT YOU TAKE SAVE IT COMPOST IT SHARE IT
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GLOBAL FLUENCY
THE NOBEL WINNER AND US Learners from Escola Concept São Paulo virtually met with Dr. David Julius, who has just been awarded the 2021 global award in Medicine Camila Icassatti, Communications and Marketing Lead, Escola Concept São Paulo
The day after Dr. David Julius was awarded the Medicine Nobel Prize for his findings on pain sensation, on Tuesday, October 5th, learners from 4 schools around the world had the unique chance to join him in a live chat hosted by Gairdner Foundation. One of these lucky participants was Escola Concept São Paulo.
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Learners from grades 7 to 9 had a few hours to prepare questions for the meeting and get information about Dr. Julius’ work, in partnership with Dr. Ardem Patapoutian. Both are researchers for American universities and institutions. The scientists have used distinctive molecules from the natural world – including toxins from tarantulas and coral snakes, and capsaicin, the molecule that produces the “heat” in chili peppers – to understand how signals, responsible for temperature and pain sensation, are transmitted to the brain. When it was time for the event... Learners got together in the auditorium and lined up in front of the computer to wait for a chance to have their questions answered. More than talking about his findings, or his trajectory, Dr. Julius shared with learners a message of encouragement:
“My mother was a school teacher and my father an engineer, so they were not exactly scientists. So the message is: if you want to do Sciences, no matter what background you come from, all you need is curiosity and determination. With some support on the way, you will get to the right place." The chat with Dr. Julius was made possible through the project 'Exploring by the seat'. Schools and educators can sign up to connect with Guest Speakers and participate in virtual field trips with leading experts from around the world. spotlight -october 2021 | 19
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"My daughter thinks outside the box. At Escola Concept, learners are encouraged to develop critical thinking, curiosity, research and seek new ways to solve challenges."
Paulo Perazzo
Escola Concept Salvador family
Watch this and other testimonials from families, educators, and students in the website: escolaconcept.com.br/visitas/sp
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MENTORING
CRUISING TOGETHER! Escola Concept launches the Mentoring Program, an initiative that will support students' network and connect them with different professionals from our academic community By Analídia Ferri, Marketing Coordinator at the Concept School Ribeirão Preto
Launched in September, the Concept School Mentoring Program will have the mission to motivate, guide and support High School and 9th grade students in their future careers. More than 50 families, from the three campuses, signed up to be volunteers in meetings that will expand the repertoire of projects related to the Global Citizen Diploma and the Innovation Diploma (read more about them below). Students will be able to choose different areas of interest for the projects, in addition to being able to select the mentors that best fit their development path. The meeting agenda is already scheduled until the month of December and will feature conversations and debates with professionals from areas such as: Marketing, Law, Health, Human Resources, Finance, Third Sector, Administration, among others.
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Volunteer mentors will act as true advisors to discuss ideas, share resources, success stories and lessons
Innovation Diploma - iDP
learned, expanding the opportunities
The Innovation Diploma involves three
and experiences of their “pupils”.
main areas: creativity, collaboration and
Students will also have the support of
self-direction that connect with several
Concept educators during this
essential skills for student development,
journey.
including: communication, project management, community building, persistence, initiative and self-
"We recently had the first meeting
awareness.
with students and their eyes lit up when they knew they could have this experience with mentors who
Global Citizen Diploma - GCD
are people in prominent positions
The Global Citizen Diploma is a diploma
in companies, hospitals and
developed by a group of international
startups they admire. They
schools in Europe and Asia that have
recognized the privilege of being
identified the need to recognize the
inspired by these professionals,
student for their involvement in global
who chose to donate their time to these young people, who see themselves as their children", comments Carlos Nascimento, leader of Middle School 2 for the three Concept schools.
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projects, whether it be part of the curriculum or on their own initiative. The Escola Concept is the only school in Latin America to be part of this network.
LEADERSHIP
'THE CULTURE MAP' BOOK STUDY GROUP The Leadership Team chose to study this book to enhance their skills while navigating through cultural differences and recognizing the strength from the 13 different nationalities that are part of the Concept educational team by Scott McMullan, Associate Head of School at Escola Concept São Paulo
Temporarily visiting other countries is great fun and usually brings memories to last a lifetime, even with language barriers. What happens when a common language is shared but you must understand and operate in a different culture? The Culture Map by Erin Meyer decodes how people think, lead, and get things done across cultures by focusing on the following 8 scales: Communicating, Evaluating, Persuading, Leading, Deciding, Trusting, Disagreeing, and Scheduling.
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It is an insightful book with interesting
Where can your culture be found on
case studies that drive home the
these scales? What about the other
importance of how to succeed in a
cultures that you encounter? Are you
global world, whether it be for
curious to find out?
business or personal reasons. For me, this book brought a lot of Looking at the first scale, we know
clarity to what I have experienced in
that Communicating (with Clarity and
my professional and personal life. I
Precision), a Habit of Mind, is crucial to
was born and raised in Canada, been
any interaction but how can it be done
married to a Brazilian for over 16
effectively across cultures? Some
years, and have worked in Canada,
cultures communicate using “low
Brazil, Colombia and South Korea. My
context” in which clear, precise and
wife and I now jokingly ask each other
simple messages are taken at face
if we are speaking in “low” or “high”
value with plenty of repetition. While
context, and it has improved our
at the opposite end of the scale is “high
communication!
context” communication in which messages are layered, sophisticated, often implied and require “reading between the lines”.
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TALE
The missing piece in my life
Exercising creativity is something we encourage in different ways at Concept. An example of this is the textual productions of learners, carried out in the Writers Workshops and in activities proposed by educators, as in this example below. The challenge launched to 9th-grade learners was to create a Nautical Fiction text, connected with Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life on the water. The text was authored by learner João Vitor Pinheiro Leiria, from Escola Concept Ribeirão Preto, originally written in English.
I have never seen the world. Imagine a man who has been imprisoned most of his life inside of a cave, where he could only see the silhouette of the guards on the wall. He has been in there for so long that he doesn’t even remember what the real world looks like. One day, the man is able to escape the prison, so he sees the people that used to be silhouettes and he wonders, “what world have I been living in?” I have been questioning this everyday now since I was four years old when my father and mother explained to me what it meant to be blind. I was born partially blind according to the doctors, so I was still able to perceive light, but as the years passed my vision grew worse. I woke up one day and my eyes wouldn’t open. I screamed for help, afraid I would be asleep for the rest of my life. My dad came to my aid and explained that this was bound to happen one days since my retinas were disattaching and that there was no way of stopping it. I remember crying for three days, which is strange because I was already blind. I guess that’s the funny thing about life. There are so many things you can’t control and all you can do is cry and be angry. Until, one day, you forget about it. 26 | spotlight - october 2021
There was a story my mother used to tell me, about this man in Ancient Greece called Diogenes. He was homeless and supposedly lived in a barrel in the streets of Athens. Diogenes believed that a man who is truly free shouldn’t have attachments, so he had no home, no family, no money, so he would never be sad or angry. One of the men who knew Diogenes said that, “if you took his legs, he would give you them, if you took his arms, he would give you them, he would give you everything, until there was nothing left.” As much as I envy the thought of living without getting hurt, are you really living if you have nothing to lose? I guess that’s the thing about philosophy, you have more questions than answers. The only reason I know and remember these stories is because of my mother. Before she left she would tell me all of these crazy and philosophical stories and ideas, hoping one day I would find the missing piece in my life. I always thought it was my vision, but she insisted it wasn’t. I miss her a lot. My father came up to me one day and told me that she was gone, that she had gone on a very long boat trip and would only come back in one hundred years. I was ten when this happened. My father became very sick and now he is never around, leaving my grandma to take care of me. We live in an old shack on the beach. It’s a really calm place away from the main part of the island, where all there is to listen to is the seagulls and the waves crashing into shore. The thing I most do is listen, listen and think. When you can’t see and you live in a shack on a small island these are mostly the only things available to do. I spend most of my days sitting on the beach, feeling the water sink between my toes and the cold wind passing through my hair, wondering and imagining what a sun setting over the horizon of water would look like. There was one day that changed everything. I had fallen asleep on the beach and it was already dark, since the crickets were chirping very loudly. I woke up from a bad dream which I can’t seem to remember. My hair was very dirty with sand and my neck was sore from sleeping in a bad position. I stood up and shook off the sand. I made my way home, my arms pointed forwards trying to find the rails and then made my way up. The door to access the house was straight ahead so there wasn’t much struggle to get to it. When I opened it I heard whispering and the sound of glass being put down on a table, grandma was asleep, so it could only be one person.
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“Dad?” I asked, my voice shaking, scared that it could be someone else. “Hello son! Come here sit down, it’s been a while.” “Yeah, it’s been six months, you even missed my birthday.” I approached the sound of his voice. “I’m sorry, I have been busy.” He responded, his voice now becoming lower. “Yeah right, you’re busy. I’m going to sleep, you better be gone in the morning.” I walked away from his voice, but he grabbed my hand and said: “Wait, I’ve got something to tell you.” I could feel the smell of alcohol coming from his breath. “I really don’t feel like listening to a story right now.” I tried to escape his grip but he held my hand even tighter. “It’s about your mother.” He said, taking his hand off mine and pulling out a chair for me to sit in, I could hear. I sat down on the creaky wooden chair. “What is it?” I responded angrily. “It’s about when she disappeared.” He paused. “You see, your mother never stood still, she needed adventure in her life. She wanted us to take a boat trip around the world. It was like she didn’t even care about the stable life we had. I just got so mad because she was so unattached to the life we built together.” I heard thunder outside. “I remember you were in your room sleeping with grandma, I was screaming so loud at your mother that she had to slap me to make me shut up. I wish I had known that because then I wouldn’t-“ He had started crying. “Don’t finish. Don’t even finish your sentence.” I said, sobbing. Tears covered my face, I could feel the cold drops on my cheeks and my chin. I was thinking about the story of Diogenes and how maybe, he got unattached to things because he was afraid they would keep him from living the life he really wanted. My thoughts were blurry and I had to get away from my father, from my house, from the whole damn island. I remember running and hitting walls until reaching the back door. The rain outside was so loud I couldn’t hear anything, I thought I had heard my father scream my name, but at that moment, to me, it was just thunder, All I wanted was one thing, to hear my mother’s voice, I ran until my feet felt the cold water. I had no fear for the first time in my life. I decided that I was going to swim, swim until I found my mother’s boat, because I just couldn’t wait one hundred years for her to come back from her trip around the world.
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I dove into the water, which was so cold I couldn’t feel my body. The waves were crashing at me violently, like the sea was trying to push me in, and I let it. My legs were tired of kicking, my body ached from the cold and my eyes were burned from the salty water. I stopped for a minute to breathe. I realized that I was never going to find her, that she was gone, that I had never seen her face, I turned around, ready to go back to my normal life, but it was too late. A giant wave swallowed into the infinite sea. At this point, all I had strength to do was cry. I wasn’t ready to face the sea, I had never been in love, I never rode a bike, I never went to school because my grandma gave me lessons at home. But what I hadn’t done doesn’t matter, because it was too late. As much as my life was short, it was still beautiful because I did what I loved most, which is think. As I sank into the ocean and my breath ran out, I swear I could picture a boat with a woman on it, she’s waving with a big smile , like she was welcoming me as the boat drifted into the sunset. I don’t know what the missing piece in my life was that my mother had told me, but I sure felt whole as the sea became part of me too.
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