Anything is possible when people come together with passion, excitement and a common goal. Owing to the worldwide covid-19 pandemic, schools in Brazil had to close. This did not stop NXplorers. The course materials were adapted and made available online and virtual collaboration tools were developed to help students to work together. From August onward 380 students from 12 schools enthusiastically started their NXplorers journey, quickly adapting to the new ways of working.

Pictured: students quickly adapted to the new way of working and presented impressive ideas

Communication leads to ideation

The students played an important part in finding online alternatives to stay in touch. They use social messaging platforms and apps to keep in touch between meetings and continuing their idea generation beyond the online sessions.

“This has not been a typical school year, and we still have to deal with a pandemic that requires social isolation. One of the biggest challenges has been developing the project with this distance between our team members, but thanks to technology available we have still been able to develop and improve our ideas. Although this has proven to be difficult, I see this as an opportunity to look for other tools and methods that can improve our teamwork.”

NXplorers Student

Innovative student projects

A group of students from the Integrated Center for Vocational Education Governador Leonel Brizola chose to focus their project on educating people about recycling oil. Students identified that due to more people staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of improperly disposed oil was becoming a growing environmental and health concern in their community. Their solution was to develop ways to reuse cooking oil and dispose of it properly, and to communicate this to the public.

Pictured: student project from the Integrated Center for Vocational Education Governador Leonel Brizola focused on educating people about recycling oil

“The highlights were the moments of reflection, identification of the problem, and when we got our hands dirty. Because when we reflect, we are looking at the problems we currently face, while looking for ways to make a new alternative beneficial for all sides.”
NXplorers Student

Celebrating a successful year

Students are now looking forward to a virtual celebration event which will be taking place in December, so they can showcase their amazing projects to a panel of expert judges including representatives from the State Department of Education. The passion and dedication shown by the students is something that should always be applauded, which is why an event like this is so important.