Piera Varin, Volunteer
Piera worked with a wide range of students and educational institutes in different communities in São Paulo and developed an expertise for working with students of all ages and backgrounds.
Piéra was born and raised in Brazil and has been living in Boston since August 2022. She speaks Portuguese and started to study Spanish. She learned about medicinal plants, gardening and to love nature with her grandparents who were farmers. Some of her most lovely memories are the ones feeling her feet on the dirt, harvesting leafy green vegetables to make a salad or a tea, playing hide and seek in the corn plantation and listening to her grandparents stories about the “roça” (farm).
She holds a bachelor’s degree in pedagogy from Sao Paulo University, and almost 15 years of professional experience in education. She worked with a wide range of students and educational institutes in different communities in São Paulo and developed an expertise for working with students of all ages and backgrounds. She worked as an educator in “Vaga Lume” promoting intercultural dialogue between Brazilian Southeast region and Amazon students through letters and camping meetings; she taught and lived for two years in a small isolated community “Praia da Serraria” - at Ilhabela island (just her, other teacher, and 80 people); also worked as an art-educator in an artistic program in Sao Paulo capital and as teacher in public schools. Published an article about toddlers at school in the book “Escuta e observação das crianças: processos inspiradores para educadores (Listening and watching kids: inspiring process for educators)”.
Since arriving in the Boston area, she has been volunteering at the Somerville Growing Center doing the “Festa Junina” (a Brazilian winter harvesting festival) and other events about gardening, nature, kids and cultures. In her free time she likes to create her own natural cosmetics and potions with plants and essential oils, take hikes, be in the woods learning from nature, dancing and trying new vegan food!
