Palmas teachers receive Transforming Educator award with Project ‘The secret life of ants’

Getting to know the lives of ants up close and still being awarded 3rd place, out of over 180 projects registered in the State, is no easy task. But two teachers from the Palmas municipal education network managed to do it and will receive the award for the 2nd edition of the Transforming Educator Award, this Tuesday, 2nd, at 7pm, in the Palácio Araguaia auditorium. Deyze Magalhães Silva Gomes and Conceição de Maria Pereira Pinheiro work as teachers at the João e Maria Municipal Early Childhood Education Center (CMEI), located at Arso 32 (305 Sul).

With this award, the educators from Palmas were classified for the regional stage, competing with teachers from other states in the North of Brazil. The A Vida da Formiga Project was carried out in 2023 with Cmei’s full-time kindergarten class and saw the participation of 36 children. The project addressed topics such as environmental preservation, the importance of insects in the ecosystem, diversity, respect and teamwork.

According to teacher Conceição de Maria Pereira Pinheir, the project arose from the children’s curiosity, specifically, when a small group of students saw ants and began asking about the most diverse curiosities about the insect. “Within the project we worked on everything from the types of ants, where they live, what they eat and even how they can help us in nature. The children and families got involved in the project, making it a work with great discoveries”, explains the teacher.

Regarding the award, Conceição de Maria highlights that “it is very important, above all, because it is a project developed for children with the support of Cmei João e Maria. I am very happy because it was developed within the theme proposed by the Municipal Department of Education of Palmas (Semed), where the secret life of ants was addressed, from the emergence of each one until the end of their cycle. I just have a lot of gratitude for being part of early childhood education in Palmas, here Cmei is not just about playing, it’s also about learning, which goes beyond the children’s lives”, she declares.