“CWhat is so far “? Carmine immediately replies to the teacher: «It is the peel of the earth. Without peel there would be no life ». Then the work with the soil in search of earthworms, insects, leaves starts again. Together with his companions he is busy around a table mounted on the lawn surrounding the Wishes School “Mario Silvestri” of Pacentro, a few kilometers from Sulmona, inside the Maiella National Park. The school where we are for the third episode of our series dedicated to schools of excellence was designed by Mario Cucinella and inaugurated last September. Today he has many projects in the pipeline.
His story begins after the 2009 earthquake in Abruzzo. «We were a group of students and recent graduates in architecture and engineering in L’Aquila, andOpo so much suffering we wanted the reconstruction to our lands to have not fallen from above but left from the territory. There was a lot of need to reconstruct the communities, not only the buildings “, Remember Daniel Caramanico, one of the founders of the study Lap architecture, Born in those years in L’Aquila. One of the first projects of the team of Abruzzo professionals liked the Archistar Mario Cucinella (among his projects, the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, the Unipol headquarters and the Rovati Foundation in Milan) and from there a close collaboration has started until he arrives at the Pacentro school.
Once the assignment is obtained, Cucinella and the young people of Lap went to the scene, and there were three months left. “Thanks to the help of AID AIDalready in the area, we managed to make ourselves known by the community. It was a useful and exciting period. The population has helped us so much. The American Pacentro club has even activated a fundraiser »continues Caramanico.
The new primary school of Pacentro, immersed in the woods, was designed by Mario Cucinella and the Lap Architecture studio. Photo Lorenzo Pesce.
A circle -shaped school
The school, which is part of the IC Mazzini Capograssi of Sulmona directed from Sunday Pagano, has an innovative and sustainable structure, with a pure form, the circle, which is also the first designed by children. AND transparent and bright, with the windows both outside, which allow the view of the woods, and inside, on the large common space. Outside, there is a garden surrounded by a natural dune, which defends from the winds. «The classrooms overlook an agora, a square, which the community asked us to be able to use as civic center. They have already started with some theatrical shows »continues Caramanico.
But The most surprising contribution was that of children. Not only did they choose the name, school of desires, but they wanted skylights “to be able to see the stars. Furthermore, when they were asked which part of the project they would eventually give up – for example the swimming pool or the playground – nobody wanted to sacrifice the outdoor space. Which is central to the project, and will be enhanced ».
The school, which welcomes 29 primary children divided into two multiplelasses, 1A-2A-3A and 4a-5a, and 18 children of the secondary secondary school, is well started, with 9 teachers (including support ones) who met for the first time in September but who work in harmony, with a common educational project. The timetable is 8.30-13.30 with a return, but on the other afternoons there are extra activities, such as English and mathematics courses.
The didactic vegetable garden has already started
«We are part of the school of the Maiella Park schools, we live in the green and we are linked to the environment. TOWe are many projects that focus mainly on outdoor education, that is, outdoor education»Says Luigina Gentile, contact person of the plexus. The didactic vegetable garden has already started, “we are waiting for the ground to dry to plant chickpeas, beans, Sulmona garlic and native beans, all at km 0 and without pesticides. We would like to recover ancient varieties of legumes and in the future cooking traditional dishesbecause his memory is not lost, perhaps together with some local restaurateurs »assures the agronomist Donato Silveri, who today has brought several soils in the area to make children discover what is under our feet.
The season is still quite rigid, in the spring we will also think of the lawn. In the future the roof, an example of bioclimatic architecture, will be camouflaged by vegetation. During the laboratory, in a beautiful morning of sun, the very concentrated pupils, “armed” of magnifying lenses, with the hands dig in the piles of earth, then collect the “treasures” in their saucers: centopies, millepiedi (be careful not to confuse them!), Earthworms, spiders, various insects. Nobody impresses himself, not even in front of a dead mole preserved in a tray. The spirit is exquisitely scientific.
As part of the Outdoor Education, at the School of Wishes Pacentro, children analyze life forms in the soil. Photo Lorenzo Pesce.
The exterior of the school is in the process of accommodation, but Frassini and holm oaks have already been planted by the nurseries of the National Parkwith which one would like to establish an agreement. “We have another vegetable garden with medicinal herbs, a pond and a little house for birds,” explains Luigina Gentile. “Our teaching is based on direct observation.”
The Cucinella school can be an argument to depopulation
Finished the laboratory We go to the agora to listen to a lesson from the agronomist and Maria Peroni, of the Environment Project of the Maiella Parkon what they have just seen. «So they can confirm their observations, and the concepts remain better impressed. They are lucky children, they can see the processes of nature live »continues the teacher.
In the last part of the morning, the children of the first pluriclasse, those between 6 and 8 years old, sit around three tables, divided by age, by an Italian lesson. No traditional books, the LIM is used (the multimedia interactive blackboard). Today, qualifying names and adjectives must be paired. The smallest salt in the chair and guess the answer immediately. Spring is upon us, the garden waits. The hope is that this school, so at the forefront, can attract children even from neighboring countries. And help to curb the depopulation of the mountain. It is not A world apartas in Riccardo Milani’s film. It is our world. © r hyporduction rp.
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