Paolo Rocca: “We can only grow if the community around us grows with us”

As part of the celebration of Roberto Rocca Education Day, which takes place every year in Techint Group companies, various events were held in the network of Roberto Rocca Technical Schools (ETRRs in Spanish) in Campana (Argentina) and Pesquería (Mexico), as well as in Cartagena (Colombia), Pindamonhangaba and Santa Cruz (Brazil).

This year, the celebration coincided with the tenth anniversary of the creation of the ETRRs Network and the 20th anniversary of the death of Roberto Rocca (February 1, 1922 - June 10, 2003) and, as always, his legacy in terms of education commemorated, reflecting on the current educational context, and sharing good practices and trends in pedagogical settings.

In addition, at some of the events, Roberto Rocca Scholarships were awarded to young people who stand out for their excellence and commitment to study.

“Today we are commemorating the anniversary of the death of my father”, began Paolo Rocca in his welcome to the event at the Roberto Rocca Technical School in Campana, Argentina, “The school bears his name and replicates the spirit and values that guided him throughout his career, following the path also traced by his father Agostino, who began in 1946 in Argentina with all the Techint ventures. Education is the core of everything, it is the core of transformation. With education you can reach the world, you can go where you want and where your own talent takes you”, he said.

Several talks and debates followed, with panels of renowned experts, on topics such as: "Leadership for a student-centered and community-connected school culture," "Community and school: 10 years of working together" and "Education in the era of Artificial Intelligence".

"From the private sector we have to continue working to rebuild the link between schools and companies, because when we permit that connection between the two to exist, something fantastic happens in young people," said Javier Martínez Álvarez, President of Tenaris for the Southern Cone, who was part of the "Education and employability" panel, together with Guillermina Tiramonti, an Education specialist and founding member of the Coalition for Education; Luciana Piersanti, Human Resources and Administration Manager of the Piersanti SME, and Rubén Tejera, graduate and teacher of the Campana ETRR.

In addition, attendees had the opportunity to tour the ETRRs and witness an open exhibition of projects, where students from the school and from the Roberto Rocca Technical Gene and After School programs exhibited their creations and innovative works.

The final round table, "Current and future educational agenda, facing the challenges of production and social inclusion", brought together Paolo Rocca with Soledad Acuña, Minister of Education of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Walter Grahovac, Minister of Education of the province of Córdoba, José Manuel Thomas, General Director of Schools of the province of Mendoza, and Martín Müller, Minister of Education of the province of Entre Ríos. During the discussion, the current and future challenges of education were addressed, with a focus on social inclusion and the development of skills for the world of work.

At the closing of the event, Rocca expressed: “The Techint Group has an industrial tradition and in this there are values among which technical education stands out as something that promotes the transformation of communities. The industry is not limited to the plant, it has deep values anchored in its people and in its community. We can only grow if the community around us grows with us.”

In Veracruz, the event was opened by Cecilia Bilesio, Vice President of Tamsa A.C., who highlighted: "We created Education Day to transmit and share the value of education as a factor of social mobility and progress."

This celebration coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Roberto Rocca After School Program (Extra Clase Roberto Rocca in the rest of the Spanish-speaking countries), which began in Veracruz. In this sense, she maintained: “For 10 years, children and young people in the state have had the opportunity to discover their talents, to develop STEM knowledge and 21st century skills. They all make up the growing After School community, live our values and know how to build the world they want to live with their own innovative proposals”.

During the day, there were several conferences such as "Develop and flourish", with Gil Noam, Psychologist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School; a discussion panel: “Education. Tool to generate equal opportunities” -inspired by the Roberto Rocca After School program- and the workshop “Cooperative games for socio-emotional skills in primary school”.

Within the framework of the event, 369 Roberto Rocca Scholarships were awarded to high school and technical high school students from the state of Veracruz, as well as university students from Veracruz, Puebla, Mexico City and Michoacán.

In addition, as part of the Education Day agenda, on June 16, TenarisTamsa delivered to the authorities of the National School of Technical Professional Education (Conalep) Plantel Veracruz I, the equipment for a FESTO 4.0 Automation Laboratory.

In the case of Pesquería, the event was held at the Roberto Rocca Technical School, in which students who received 422 Roberto Rocca Scholarships participated in person and virtually. The meeting was chaired by Máximo Vedoya, CEO of Ternium, and Sofialeticia Morales, Secretary of Education of Nuevo León, participated.

Vedoya highlighted the boost that education provides to the lives of young people: “Education is fundamental to building the transformation of a country. That is why the basis of Ternium's commitment to the growth of the communities where we operate is education”.

In Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo, the Roberto Rocca Education Day took place on June 16, with the delivery of Roberto Rocca Scholarships that, for the first time, were jointly awarded to 200 high school students and 22 university students.

Present at the ceremony were the Vice President of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin -who gave a brief speech-, the President of Tenaris in Brazil, Renato Catallini, and local authorities. In addition to the award-winning students, their parents and the directors of the participating educational institutions attended, as well as directors of Tenaris.

With the presence of students, teachers and family members, Education Day in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, was the setting for the granting of 250 Roberto Rocca Scholarships, and was attended by Marcelo Chara, president of Ternium Brazil. “The commitment to education has always been a fundamental value for all the companies that make up the Group. We believe that it is a fundamental tool for the integration of communities”, he said in his opening speech.

Also, within the framework of the event, swimmer Daniel Dias, the greatest Paralympic medalist in the country's history, gave a motivational talk, in which he shared his story of overcoming obstacles.

Scholar Débora Campos, who is a Chemical Engineering student at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, had already participated in Ternium's mentoring program for black youth. “The program was a turning point in my professional life. But I never imagined that I would win the scholarship this year. The prize will be crucial to continue building my future. It's also a way to pay back all the investment my parents made in my career. In other words, never stop dreaming”, advised Débora, 22, who recently joined the Internship program at Ternium Brasil and works in the Supply Chain area.

The event was held for the first time in Cartagena and included the participation of nine Roberto Rocca scholarship holders, who visited the TenarisTuboCaribe facilities and then met with former scholarship holders to share experiences and reflect on how education, innovation and excellence are key pillars in professional growth.