Brazilian Teacher Who Shielded Students During Canada Attack Teaches with Ingenuity and Once Cycled from São Paulo to Alaska

Brazil - Ekhbary News Agency

Brazilian Teacher Who Shielded Students During Canada Attack Teaches with Ingenuity and Once Cycled from São Paulo to Alaska

In the face of a terrifying school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada, Brazilian teacher Jarbas Noronha demonstrated remarkable courage and composure, shielding his students and guiding them through the ordeal. The 58-year-old educator, renowned for his hands-on, inventive approach to science teaching, managed to keep his students safe and calm during the incident that unfolded on Tuesday, March 10th.

Noronha, who teaches applied sciences at a local school, is known for creating unique teaching tools and engaging experiments. On the day of the attack, he was in the school's mechanics workshop demonstrating engine oil changes when students began receiving alarming reports from the parking lot about active gunfire.

Recounting the harrowing experience to Folha, Noronha stated, "All my students came out physically well. Emotionally, it was very intense for them because they were using their phones while everything was happening. I allowed it, wanting them to communicate with their parents." He added, "But at the same time, they were connecting with other students hidden in different parts of the school, and some very graphic [impactful] photos were being shared. I tried to keep them from sharing too much negative information because I didn't want them to panic."

Despite the palpable fear, Noronha focused on keeping the students engaged and proactive. They collaboratively developed an escape plan and constructed a barricade within the workshop. "They behaved excellently," he affirmed, highlighting the students' resilience.

Noronha's life story is as captivating as his teaching methods. Originally from Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, he previously taught science at Colégio Poliedro in São José dos Campos in the 2010s. There, his inventive spirit earned him the nickname "Professor Pardal" (Professor Gadget), a nod to the Disney comic character. His classes were eagerly anticipated, often serving as a welcome respite from academic pressures, featuring homemade rockets, in-aquarium physics demonstrations, catapult constructions, and miniature motorized planetariums.

"Jarbas is a professional who likes to involve the student, promote projects, and get the student to get their hands dirty. A truly very special teacher," commented Kadu Lambert, an educational consultant at Poliedro.

Long before his teaching career, Noronha embarked on an extraordinary adventure. In the late 1980s, he abandoned his architecture studies at the University of São Paulo to undertake a solo bicycle journey from São Paulo state to Alaska. The epic expedition lasted a year, four months, and 25 days, spanning from February 1993 to July 1994. Upon becoming a teacher, he dedicated an annual lesson to sharing the story of this incredible traverse with his students, complete with photographs and anecdotes.

The specially adapted bicycle he used weighed nearly as much as he did at the time. He recounted routines like brushing his teeth while cycling and collecting local newspaper clippings about his journey to aid in visa processes for subsequent countries. He often found hospitality with sympathetic locals along his route.

Following his extensive travels, Noronha worked as a carpenter in Alaska from 1997 to 2000. Returning to Brazil in 2005, he founded "Bicho Carpinteiro," a woodworking shop in Monteiro Lobato specializing in wooden toys, often organizing community build events for Christmas toy distribution.

Since 2009, he has also been known for creating an elaborate, articulated Nativity scene in the town square of Monteiro Lobato, constructed entirely from salvaged materials like microwave motors, record players, and washing machine pumps. This tradition was inspired by an experience during his 1993 bicycle trip in Guatemala, where he helped an indigenous host add moving parts to his Nativity display.

In 2018, Noronha learned that a 1977 Honda CB 750K motorcycle he had purchased in 1994 was still sitting in a friend's yard in Alaska. He requested a year's leave of absence from his teaching position, famously telling his principal, "You have two options: either give me a year's leave or fire me, because I'm going to get it." Granted the leave, he restored the motorcycle in 2019 and embarked on a four-month journey back to São José dos Campos.

During this motorcycle trip, he made a brief stop in Tumbler Ridge to visit Joline Couture, a Canadian woman he had met online in 2001. Their online connection had persisted for nearly two decades, intensifying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Noronha moved to Canada in February 2022, and they married three months later. He worked as a contractor before a science teaching position opened up at the local school, allowing him to return to his passion for education.

On the afternoon of the attack, Noronha and his students remained in the workshop for over two hours until law enforcement arrived and escorted them out. The full scale of the tragedy only became apparent to him upon returning home. He continues to share his inventive creations and travelogues on social media, emphasizing a positive outlook: "I always try to be very positive. I want to convey a bit of what it's like to enjoy living."

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