College Hermann Spethmann is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

located in the city of

Criciúma Criciúma () is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home material ...

, state of Santa Catarina,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The college educates students with various learning needs, employing innovative teaching methods that do not require assessment by test. They have no sign of class beginning and ending. The founder of the institution, Roseli da Luz, explained that "evidence does not certify anything. The focus of the school is to teach and prepare students for the tests."

History

In 1988 the school was inaugurated as ''Pirlimpimpim'', offering assistance in early childhood education. In 1998 the ''Centro Educacional Hermann Spethmann'' was founded, expanding from its initial class of grades 1–4. In 2003 it began to offer 5th to 8th grades. In 2005, it began to add high school classes.

Hermann Spethmann

He was born on January 1, 1888, in the city of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and died in

on June 23, 1953. At the beginning of the 20th century, Germans settled in the north of the State of Santa Catarina. The state government offered assistance to immigrants in sectors such as education, health and social assistance. To encourage the arrival of skilled immigrants, the Government prepared an intensive program to recruit from German universities. After two years of active service in academic medicine, Hermann Spethmann accepted the challenge and signed a contract with the State to offer health education to immigrants. In 1911 he immigrated to Brazil by ship. On the journey, which took several days. he met Hana, who later became his wife and the mother of his children. His team was later broken up because of an epidemic that afflicted the entire Anitópolis region. After several years, disgusted with the absence of support material, medicines and other commitments made in his contract, Spethmann decided to leave the project and open his own establishment in Joinville. After a few years of success, competition from pharmacy ''Bornschein'' (later ''Catarinense'') ended the business. A school inspector friend proposed that he return to education. He accepted the challenge and specialized in

Florianópolis Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as we ...

. He joined a private school in

Arapongas Arapongas is a municipality within the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil. It is located in the Metropolitan area of Londrina, Microregion Apucarana and Mesoregion North Central Paranaense, being located at a distance of 386 km from the ...

in Indaial, located in a new colony. He stayed for sixteen years. It may have been the first private school in the state. The nationalization program of

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

banned the use of the German language in schools, causing Hermann Spethmann to leave teaching in 1939. Spethmann is grandfather and great-grandfather of the founders of the college.

References

{{coord missing, Santa Catarina (state)External links

Official college website (in Portuguese)
Schools in Brazil 1988 establishments in Brazil Educational institutions established in 1988