Mr. Bezerra, the Chair of Engineering and a math teacher, brings a distinct industrial perspective to the classroom. He grew up in Brazil and earned a degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro before entering the paper industry. When he and his wife, Ms. Varallo, who currently works in the Academic Resource Center, decided to raise their children in the United States, Mr. Bezerra found that teaching would allow him to make a greater impact and be more present at home. He felt that the transition was natural due to his prior experience in conducting corporate training and giving presentations. Looking back, he noted that “life was pushing [him] to it.”
Arriving at Kent in 2019, Mr. Bezerra was drawn to the motivated student body, stating that “The students here really chose to come to Kent.” He appreciates math as a “universal language,” which helped him to bridge the early language barriers. Mr. Bezerra recognizes how the digital revolution has made engineers’ lives easier. However, students today lack “hands-on dexterity.” Therefore, he greatly values project-based learning, whether it’s a geometry project of building kites, learning the symmetry behind, or using syringes to demonstrate fluid power.
Mr. Bezerra currently leads the solar car program, which he describes as “the most comprehensive engineering project that high school students could participate in,” exercising all five Kent School competencies. Benefiting from his corporate and industry background, he constantly reminds students that the ability to speak in public creates significant advantages and opportunities.
For Mr. Bezerra, the role of a teacher is to facilitate the learning process by providing insights in addition to the textbook. Guided by his favorite quote from John Newman: “The general principles of any study you may learn by books at home, but the detail, the color, the tone, the air, the life which makes it live in us, you must catch all these from those in whom it already lives,” Mr. Bezerra brings the vitality into his classroom. By turning complex models into tangible realities, Mr. Bezerra inspires and awakens a strong passion for Engineering and Mathematics within his students.
