[ad_1]
There were cries from mothers, teachers and even the caregiver, who could no longer bear being alone, on the first day of the opening of a private school in the north of São Paulo. In the southern region, the adolescents maintained physical contact until the end of the morning, but could not resist and hugged on the way out, to the despair of the inspectors. Welcome to the rhythm of K-pop on the court of a public school in Itaim Paulista, in the Far East. THE Status This Wednesday, the 7th, the emotion and the attempt to implement the security protocols in three schools in the capital continued, which resumed face-to-face activities after almost 7 months closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It seems like it’s the first day of school of her life,” says Dijane Lima, an accountant, mother of Sara, 5, with tears streaming down her mask. He watches his daughter enter the Escola Projeto Vida, which is in Casa Verde, until she disappears from sight. “He’s sad and happy. So long at home … sorry about the mask,” he adds.
A child arrives with a stuffed lion in hand and a backpack with wheels, which had not been recommended by the school for the return, following the protocol. Teacher Margareth Tieppo solves the problem and says that the little lion will be the “toy to stay in school”, not to come and go. She welcomes each student to the door and leads them to the previous classroom, where they stayed for about a month this year alone. It indicates that they need to remove their shoes and repeats all the time: “distance, distance.”
He has been teaching at Projeto Vida for 25 years, all day. “When it stopped, life stopped. This is a space to share knowledge with children and that is what we miss,” she says, also teary-eyed. Masked, teachers and school staff wear a plaque with a photo in which they are smiling for easy identification. Cícero de Lima, who is in charge of maintenance, has red eyes when he finally sees movement in the school. “Well boy, what a thrill. Six months here, just the sound of a bird, just all day, everyone’s gone. Now I see them all.”
At the Colégio Bandeirantes, in Paraíso, the strict protocol against covid-19 is imposed from the steps of the stairs, just after the main gate, with red stickers with the inscription “wait here”. As they ascend, the students are captured by a reconnaissance camera that measures temperature and sniffs even those with the mask hanging from their chin, a rare occurrence.
The hugs are interrupted in the air when the teens meet before classes start, around 8 a.m. Just masked nods and smiles reveal how good it is to be together. Some students are so anxious that they arrive 45 minutes before classes start. A group of seven friends even misses the Café Panino, a cafeteria that is in front of the school and that reopened after almost 7 months of quarantine. They give a “balsam” -from afar- to Pedro Chaves, happy, happy at the counter. “Only the movement I had today was better than the delivery days”, celebrates the businessman.
Inside the classroom, only 15 students – to ensure physical distance and minimize the risk of contamination – carry out the reinforcements proposed for this reopening phase in October. The City only allowed extracurricular activities. In the room, a rectangle on the floor indicates the space that the teacher should occupy, near the projector.
The image of the teacher talking and circulating through the ranks no longer exists. He and the students cannot leave their square, the spaces occupied by the desks are also delimited. “We also have a procedure in case of doubt of the student, using a face shield. It will be a much more traditional class,” says Renato Pacheco Villar, Science / Stem and Steam coordinator, approaches that seek multidisciplinarity between Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Return in the East Zone has happiness and concern for the protocols
On the east side, students from Thomaz Rodrigues Alckmin State School also arrive early. “I was very anxious, I really wanted to go back, I’m in 5th grade and I have a lot to learn,” says 10-year-old Emily Dutra. The father says he is “very happy” with the return, but concerned about the protocols. “If they are going to clean themselves, if they are going to wear a mask all the time in the classroom, if the school is going to have someone to accompany them in this process …”, says Manuel Galdino, 42.
Right at the entrance, as in private schools, the temperature was measured, they asked to wash their hands with alcohol gel on totems and keep their distance. And there were still masks available to those who arrived without them or needed a new one.
The children’s first activity – there were 11 of the 16 students in the class – was hearing about protocol. There was no lack of liquid soap in the bathrooms. Then, on the court, they danced and stretched to the sound of Senõrita, Balão Mágico and Gangnam Style. “They were very happy, you can’t see their faces, but you can see their eyes,” says 40-year-old teacher Michelle Queiroz excitedly. There was also a round of conversation, reading and bills on the board. “I wanted to go back and so did my parents, because at home we don’t learn like we do at school,” said Lucas Enemona de Almeida, 11.
In the north, Miguel, 5 years old, jumped around the room with his arms raised, running from one side to the other. “I’m happy,” he said. Colleague Martin looked slowly at the toy dinosaurs, recognizing the surroundings. In the yard, they get loose, run to toys, play pirates, come closer. Then the cleaning crew vaporizes everything with a chemical solution. “It is a new routine, materials and personal hygiene will occupy an important space of the day,” says the school director, Mónica Padroni.
Raúl, 10, says he slept in uniform so anxiously that he was about to return. “I just went for a walk with the dog and went to the market, I couldn’t take it anymore”, but he speaks of the pandemic with concern and even the number of deaths in the country is known by heart.
The older ones played tag, but touching their feet and not their hands, when one grabbed the other. And they heard stories in the library without being able to get the books. “Before they took a book home every week, but now we would have to quarantine it, so I’ll tell them the stories,” explains educator Juliana Bonito, who takes care of the library.
This school unit has capacity for 1,000 students, there were 25 only on this first day because only the 4th year could have face-to-face activities this Wednesday. Each day will be for a different series. The other director Silvia Elayne de Oliveira does not complain. “It is strange to see the school empty, but it is already good to see it with the students.”
In Bandeirantes, it was difficult to maintain exit protocol. “It’s very difficult not to hug. It’s been seven months of isolation. Can you give him a discount, man?” Pleads a student who did not want to identify himself, trapped by Status in the middle of a hug on the sidewalk of the school. The children of Projeto Vida also leave school and gather hugging for a photo requested by their parents, who want to register the first day. Mari, 5, runs to her mother. “It was too much, I want to go back.”
