We are NOT science experts, NOR people specialized in ocean or plastic pollution matters. We're just concerned citizens willing to 'turn the tide' on plastic pollution and protect the environment the way we can, using whatever tools at hand to help reduce its impact on our oceans. Our priority is to educate our students, and ourselves, so they would feel compelled to take action.
Manuela is a music teacher in Portugal. She began her professional career at the age of 17. She has a degree in Music Education and Piano. Throughout her career she has always sought for innovation and creativity, having participated in several didactics and musical pedagogy courses, both in Portugal and abroad, which led her to register on eTwinning* in 2010. She has since developed numerous projects with her students in partnership with other European teachers and has participated in several eTwinning meetings and conferences at national and European level, having won seven national prizes and one European award. Some of the projects she developed were related to the ocean - "A Voyage of Sea Discovery", "BLASTIC" and "Litter@sea" and climate change - "ClimACT News". For 13 years she was the coordinator and editor-in-chief of her school's newspaper.
Since the creation of "The Global Plastic Cleanup Brigade" (Aug. 2017) Manuela 'has been' in hundreds of classrooms all over the world impacting thousands of students (look for Litter@sea on social media). She is a MIEExpert (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert), MIE Trainer and a Global Learning Mentor. Manuela is married and a proud mother of two. *eTwinning is a community for schools in Europe