ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL
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Brazilians are in the final of the Greenpower Apprentice Programme IN THE INTERNATIONAL GREENPOWER CHAMPIONSHIP, TO BE HELD THIS SUNDAY, 16TH OCTOBER, BRAZIL WILL BE REPRESENTED BY PUPILS FROM THE SAINTS TEAM, FROM ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL, SÃO PAULO.
This Sunday, 16th October, at Rockingham Speedway in Corby, England, the grand finale of the international Greenpower competition will take place, an educational experience aimed at developing sustainable entrepreneurship among young Senior School pupils all over the world. The focus is on improving knowledge in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, and promoting pupil-led extracurricular activities. This programme enables the apprentices to develop their skills in designing and building electric cars. Having become the Brazilian champions, the pupils from St. Paul’s will compete against students from schools in the United States, South Africa, Portugal, China and Colombia. The extracurricular activity began in 2015 and has been applied to ten Brazilian schools in order to change the perception of young people in the 9 to 19 age bracket with regards to entrepreneurship. The Brazilian love of cars has been a starting point for stimulating this exciting type of learning. “Traditional schools should become more modern and offer real motivation to their students, and we represent this modernisation. Through electric racing cars, we develop a series of disciplines, such as science, engineering and maths, while promoting joint learning and sustainable entrepreneurship in a way that strengthens the bonds between teachers, parents and pupils”, says Manoel Belém, co-
ordinator of the programme. The ambassador for Greenpower in Brazil, Luciana Allan, who is director of Instituto Crescer, emphasises that students achieve the best results when they are challenged to create, plan and implement projects. “During this competition, the students raised funds, planned their marketing and communication and considered the sustainability of the initiative, as well as reflecting on tangible aspects of the project such as team management, time management and documentation.” In this process, the young people developed a series of essential skills to prepare them for the work market, such as resilience, and the use of technology, which has a considerable impact on their future. “Our main aim is to give autonomy to the main author of the learning process – the pupil. This allows them to recognise their position as social protagonists, adopt a productive approach and contribute to developing themselves and their community,” adds Manoel Belém. (With press office.)