To spot the EMD National School Asunción Escalada, keep your eyes open for a striking blue and white shield-shaped logo prominently featuring the letters "CNAE"-it’s usually by the main entrance, and the grand, bustling facade of the school is right on the corner of Iturbe and Eligio Ayala streets.
Alright, pause right here for a moment, because you’re standing at the threshold of a living piece of history-one that has witnessed generations of dreams unfold and a fair share of teenage debates about homework, uniforms, and sports day rivalries! This is the EMD National School Asunción Escalada, a cornerstone of Paraguayan education, but with a few twists and turns worthy of its own telenovela.
Picture Asunción in 1938: bustling streets, horse-drawn carts sharing space with early cars, radio broadcasts crackling with government news, while the world was changing fast around them. But right here, instead of the lively teenage chatter you hear now, there was a quiet excitement-a whisper about a brand-new school specially built for girls. At a time when educational opportunities for women were a precious rarity, the National Girls High School was created by presidential decree No. 4,369. Imagine the courage of the first students walking through those doors, knowing they were pioneers. Their mission? To prove that women could take on the world, science equations and all.
Now, things weren’t always so co-ed and collaborative. For more than six decades, this landmark welcomed only girls, helping to shape the minds of women who would go on to be leaders, teachers, and trailblazers. But in February 2004, someone at the Ministry of Education decided it was time to shake things up a little. Suddenly, boys were allowed to enroll! The very next day, the air was tinged with suspense-were boys ready for this? Would girls accept their new classmates? Some parents cheered, hoping for a more inclusive world, while others weren't quite so sure and pulled their daughters out in protest. Talk about drama in the schoolyard!
If you listen closely now, you might almost hear the echo of the old school anthem-music composed by the famous Remberto Giménez, with lyrics written by the so-called Poet of the City, Francisco Ortiz Méndez. The words celebrated girlhood and strength, ringing through the corridors each day. But in 2004, with the new wave of coeducation, the song’s references to girls alone made it a relic of another age, and the anthem was set aside, a bittersweet reminder of changing times.
Today, more than 1,000 students in smart uniforms-white shirts and blue skirts or pants, matching ties, white stockings for girls-march through the halls each morning and afternoon. The smells of chalk dust and fresh ink mix with the excitement of learning anything from industrial chemistry, to business administration, to social sciences, and more technical subjects than you can shake a Bunsen burner at! Did you know this is one of only five schools in the entire metropolitan area to offer a technical baccalaureate in industrial chemistry? At the end of the year, the hallways come alive with the Expoferia, a kind of science and technology extravaganza, and you’d better believe the students go all out-displaying innovations that might even leave their teachers scratching their heads in amazement.
Oh, and the color wars? No, not a battle with paint-though that would be fun! It’s the annual Sports and Cultural Fair, pitting red against yellow, blue against turquoise, and so on, in contests fierce enough to make the World Cup look like a tea party. There’s soccer, volleyball, brainy quizzes, even chess and cycling, the air buzzing with cheers and a healthy dose of friendly rivalry.
Buried behind all of this is a long-standing debate about a certain multipurpose room-the “Emilio Biggi” domain. Picture an endless tug-of-war between the school and the Ministry of Education: Who's the real boss here? No matter who wins, one thing is clear: this place is bursting with life, history, and more stories than you can possibly imagine.
So as you stand here in the shadow of the CNAE crest, take a moment to think about how many footsteps have crossed these grounds. From its humble beginnings to its current role as a scientific and cultural powerhouse, this school has faced it all-controversy, change, triumph, and lots and lots of homework. Ready to move on to our next stop? Let’s keep going before the bell rings!
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