São Paulo – The Global Teacher Prize 2019, promoted by the United Arab Emirates, has a Brazilian among its ten finalists. Débora Garofalo is majored in linguistic and literature and pedagogy, and post-graduated in Portuguese. The Brazilian has a 14-year experience in the São Paulo public education system and has been shortlisted to be one of the best teachers in the world.
The prize to the winner will be USD 1 million and, according to the organizer Varkey Foundation, it is the greatest one of its kind for education. The initiative was created by the UAE prime-minister and vice-president Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The award ceremony will occur in March 24 in Dubai, UAE.
In a video shoot by the Prize about the finalists, Débora explains the project that may give her the title of best teacher this year. She uses robotics to teach students in poor neighborhoods. “I’ve always thought: these children will learn not only robotics. They have to learn how to interact with the community. I fight to change the life of these children through education.”
So, at EMEF Almirante Ary Palmeiras, in the outskirts of São Paulo, Garofalo decided to provide for the few education related to technology her students got. And the teacher’s idea also included the garbage problem the community experienced. She started holding open classes on waste management for the local communities, encouraging her students to turn this waste into prototypes of things they have imagined, designed, then built.
Over 2,000 students have been involved in the program, turning 700 kg of rubbish into something new. This initiative made Débora reach the shortlist of the prize, created to stress the importance of educators and acknowledge the impacts of the best teachers – not only on the students but on the surrounding communities as well.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
