State school in Telégrafo promotes access to culture and student protagonism

To democratize access to culture and promote student protagonism, the State Elementary School Santo Afonso, in the Telégrafo neighborhood of Belém, created the project “Getting to Know Pará's Instrumental Music”. The initiative combines education and art and makes a difference in the school community's life.

With instruments purchased with resources from the Pará School Money Program (Prodep), the project resumes activities this second semester with classes on the fundamentals of instrumental music, its elements, and cultural relevance, worked within the Art discipline.

In the curriculum component of Amazon Studies, the learning focuses on the role of instrumental music in shaping Pará's cultural identity. Within the project, the Santo Afonso School Band was also created, a space where students experience musical practice and develop new artistic skills.

Coordinated by the school principal, Máximo Rogério Passos, the project resumed activities after a partnership with the State Secretariat of Culture (Secult). “The idea is to make students have contact with this type of instrumental music, which is often not part of their daily lives; they are used to listening to commercial music, and the more contact they have with different cultures and artistic experiences, the more enriched their curriculum and their capacity to develop will be,” he said.

“In August, we participated in a show by the Amazon Jazz Band, a partnership with the Culture Secretariat, and it was a big event here at the school. The students became even more interested, and the project reopened registrations for music classes,” said the school principal, Máximo Rogério Passos.

The manager highlighted the importance of Prodep for the project and other pedagogical activities at Santo Afonso State School. “We are resuming the band because we already have all the percussion and wind instruments that were idle, but we couldn't maintain them, and now with the Prodep funds, we can do that. So, Prodep provides us with the means to buy missing elements like drumsticks, drumheads, and restructure our band,” emphasized Principal Máximo.

The school principal added: “The importance of this program is enormous because it was one of the greatest advances we have had in Pará's education in recent times. Today, the manager can dialogue with the community and invest in what is the real need of the community. In the past, we had investments from Seduc, but generally for the entire state, and now with Prodep, we can invest exactly in what the school community evaluated, budgeted, and can then manage this resource to make it happen.”

For student Adriel Percilio, from the 6th grade of elementary school, the project has awakened a new perspective on music, as well as new learnings. “It’s good and an honor to participate in this project. I have already learned many things from the principal, things I didn’t know, like, for example, playing the instruments in the marching band. The improvements here at school along with the music classes have made me more eager to come and study,” he commented.

Student Samuel Gemaque, also from the 6th grade of elementary school, shared his experience of participating in the initiative. “I think it’s really cool that everyone learns and we also have fun here; we learn a lot from the principal,” he said.

Upcoming performances - With the success of the project, the band from Santo Afonso State School will have the opportunity to participate in three unprecedented performances open to the public in the coming months: Masters of Guitarrada in September and the Orchestra of Theatro da Paz in November.

Prodep - The Pará School Money Program is an initiative of the Government of Pará, through Seduc, which enhances and grants autonomy for the development of actions in schools. With the program, school management, in active partnership with the School Council, gains greater autonomy and protagonism to manage resources in executing priority demands and daily needs, allowing for a significant reinforcement in the teaching-learning process.

Since 2023, the Government of Pará has been transforming the reality of public schools through Prodep. More than R$ 140 million have already been transferred to units throughout the State, improving the learning environment and valuing the participation of all in building quality public education. With the new transfer, the State reaches the mark of R$ 190 million.