My name is Maria Ilma Volkmer and I am the Director of Brazilian Studies at the Pan American School of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Before coming to PAS,  I have worked as a teacher, a Teen Coordinator and an Academic Director at the Instituto Cultural Brasileiro Norte-Americano, known as Cultural for more than two decades. I graduated in Portuguese and English Languages and Literature at the Pontifícia Universitária Católica known as PUC, and I have taken a Specialization Master Course  in Education at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, known as UFRGS. I have taken several trips to the United States with the objective of taking courses and attending conferences. I have been to Syracuse University in Syracuse New York, to Ball State University in Indiana, to the University of SDSU College of Extended Courses in San Diego, California, and to St. Louis Convention in Missouri, besides taking many other courses here in Brazil with well-known international professors such as Jack Richards, Leslie Barrat, PHD, Indiana University, Doreen Harvey, MBA, and Betty Leaver, Ball State University.

 I have been working together with the PAS Director and we are committed to hiring the best educators both locally and worldwide and our primary aim is to seek excellence in education and to foster the personal growth of each student. As PAS offers a broad and challenging curriculum both in English and Portuguese I also work with the Portuguese Department to achieve their objectives including professional development and open communication as an integral part of our ongoing plan for continuous improvement.

 PAS offers Portuguese to all students from Grade 1 to Grade 12 and also Brazilian Social Studies ( BSS- History and Geography) to all students while they study all other classes. The school has a Language Support Department that offers instruction for Brazilian students as well as International ones who come from abroad and cannot speak Portuguese. This program includes individual classes or classes in small groups, with an additional in-class support until the student is able to follow the class independently. The Portuguese team has been building up teaching resources and investigating further ways and means of improvement.

 PAS has a unique role in Porto Alegre giving children the opportunity to express themselves creatively in a bilingual environment. Adding to a multicultural faculty PAS provides an educational experience that encourages its students to “be international” while maintaining close ties with its Brazilian community. Effective collaboration and communication with families as partners in education of their children are essential for the success of our school.

 The implementation of the PYP Program has been promoting more integration between English and Portuguese giving teachers the opportunity to plan and work together.