About Us

The Juca in Schools Program, an initiative of the International Relations course at UFSM, aims to promote educational development and research on Brazilian Foreign Policy in schools and communities in Santa Maria and the Fourth Colony. In collaboration with the Geopark, the program carries out these actions through the UN’s 2030 Agenda, highlighting its significant social impact.

The Program focuses on four complementary actions: lectures in municipal and state schools on History, Geography, and Political Science in International Relations; production of educational materials and content for schools, especially targeting humanities teachers; organizing film debates; and a medium to long-term initiative with selected schools called “Adopt an SDG.”

Objectives

It is understood that a country’s foreign policy is a matter of state interest and the exclusive prerogative of the President. However, it is also a public policy accessible to civil society as a whole. Therefore, the Program aims to stimulate reflection on important concepts regarding the effects of the global agenda on the daily lives of people in the region.

The overall objective of the Extension Program is to disseminate knowledge about Brazilian foreign policy and the UN’s 2030 Agenda to students in the basic education network of public and private schools in the Central Region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, particularly focusing on the Imembuy territory, an initiative of the Federal University of Santa Maria. This initiative serves as a means to disseminate university-researched topics to society, particularly from the International Relations course, by promoting the inseparability of teaching, research, and extension activities.

Why Juca in Schools?

The name “Juca” is given in honor of the nickname during adolescence of José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, the Baron of Rio Branco. An illustrious figure in the history of Brazilian Foreign Policy, the Baron, considered the patron of Brazilian diplomacy, assumed the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1902 and held it until his death in 1912. He was a man passionate about books and history, admired by colleagues, world leaders, and the Brazilian population. In 1945, to commemorate the centenary of his birth, the Rio Branco Institute (IRBr) was created, a school for the training of the Brazilian diplomatic corps. He was chosen as the name and symbol of our program because he represents the youth of the Baron, linking the program to the important phase in students’ lives, who see in the historical figure an example that studying is the best path.

Our Logo

The Juca in Schools logo aligns with the choice of the program’s name, as it aims to portray the profile of the Baron of Rio Branco and connect it with the symbolism of youth and the school phase through the image of a backward-facing cap.

This beautiful logo was developed by José Domingos Bazanella, a student of the International Relations course at UFSM.

Our Internal Organization

The Juca in Schools Program is coordinated and led by Professor Dr. Günther Richter Mros, associated with the Department of Economics and International Relations at the Center for Social Sciences and Humanities (CCSH). Additionally, the program is organized with the annual rotation of positions among undergraduate students at UFSM. The Executive Direction is composed of a project member, student Isadora Brand Fabrizio. Its main function is to coordinate and manage the four actions and the internal organization of Juca. We also have three committees related to each of these extension actions: lecture committee, cine-debate committee, content production committee, and the Adopt a SDG committee. Each of them has a student member as Director. Internally, Juca is divided into three committees with their respective directors: communication committee, human resources committee, and institutional relations committee.

Committees

• Communication – Guardian of the visual identity of the Juca in Schools Program, manages social media, creates and implements the posting calendar, informing the public about activities and events. It is responsible for producing content for Juca in Schools’ media, such as post templates, stories, standardizing slides for lectures, etc.
• Institutional Relations – Mediates and maintains communication with UFSM and external institutions; produces materials for presenting the Juca in Schools project to external institutions; seeks and interprets notices of contests and events that Juca can participate in.
• Human Resources – Attracts, recruits, and selects new members for the project; conducts internal training for new members and their respective committees; develops the selection process for new member registration; assists in achieving project objectives according to internal and external demands; acts as a mediator in relationships between project committees; monitors and verifies project development.
• Resource Mobilization – Responsible for raising financial resources for the project to fund actions and basic needs.

Commissions

• Lectures – Manages the organization of lectures to be presented in schools; creates and implements educational lectures according to each theme and the students’ familiarity with the respective subject of the event; creates and implements the necessary didactics for the lectures according to the audience to be presented.
• Cine-Debates – Manages the organization of cine-debate actions, such as curating short films, selecting and receiving schools and the invited public for sessions; organizing the session and its respective theme and activities.
• Research and Content Production – Manages the production of educational and academic materials and content, including the creation of booklets, educational manuals, pamphlets, academic articles, and film scripts.
• Embrace a SDG – Manages the organization of actions in public schools in the municipalities of the Fourth Colony, aiming to build activities and initiatives with students to contribute to the advancement of a Sustainable Development Goal of the 2030 Agenda.
  
  • Subcommittee for the School of Nova Palma – Responsible for organizing and managing the action carried out at Cândida Zasso School in Nova Palma.
  • Subcommittee for the School of Silveira Martins – Responsible for organizing and managing the action carried out at João Savegnago School in Silveira Martins.