As a teacher from the Middle School “Istituto Comprensivo Altovergante” of Invorio, you organized a study day and brought your students to visit the production department of a plastic manufacture company. Why?

Very often children live in a world of things, without knowing where they come from and how much history there is in them. That’s why I thought it might be an important experience to help them discover how a spray, a bottle, a pen holder is born. We chose Vifra because it is a neighboring company. To help them understand that things happen even in the place where we live, just a few steps from home. Not only on television, or in far countries.

Did you also dealt with complex issues, such as ecology?

Students have raised the issue, asking if the plastic was a polluting material. But it was enough to explain where it comes from and how is possible recycle it and work it in order to optimize the waste to make them understand that, if handled well, the plastic can be a good friend of nature. Now they know that it is a chemical material, but they also know that, if managed intelligently, it does’t harm the environment.

What impressed you and your students the most?

My students liked the system. They were impressed by the plastic granules, by silver tubes, by sounds. But also by the transformation process, its taking shape. I liked being able to teach on the stage, with the help of those who work in the industry. It was a new and deeply experience, which has expanded the experience we have of everyday life.