It's not about money, it's about will and capacity
In the interior of Paraná state, a seventeen-year-old public school student named Beatriz Maria Ferreira dos Santos carried her community's hopes to Arizona and returned with a third-place finish in plant sciences at ISEF 2026, one of the world's most demanding pre-university science competitions. Her victory over teams from more than sixty countries was made possible not by institutional wealth, but by a teacher's personal loan, a crowdfunding campaign, and the collective will of a small Brazilian city. The achievement invites a broader reflection on what talent can accomplish when a community refuses to let circumstance be the final word.
- A public school student from Toledo, Brazil entered one of the world's most competitive science fairs armed with an innovative orchid cultivation method — and almost didn't make it there at all.
- With only two hundred reais raised in the first day of crowdfunding and a thirty-thousand-reais deadline looming, the journey to Arizona seemed financially impossible.
- Her teacher, Dioneia Schauren, took out a personal bank loan to purchase the plane tickets in time, while the community mobilized through raffles, bake sales, and benefit dinners to cover the rest.
- When third place was announced, Schauren's tearful message to supporters cut to the heart of it: this was proof that will and capacity matter more than money or resources.
- Both Beatriz and a classmate, Fernanda Gracieli Gonçalves Jank, are now advancing to the GENIUS fair in New York in June, carrying Toledo's name onto yet another global stage.
Beatriz Maria Ferreira dos Santos walked into the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona as a seventeen-year-old from a public school in Toledo, Paraná — and walked out with third place in plant sciences at ISEF 2026, competing against students from more than sixty countries, many backed by well-funded institutions.
Her project was a cheaper, more sustainable method for cultivating orchids in vitro, developed at the Colégio Estadual Jardim Porto Alegre under the guidance of science club coordinator Dioneia Schauren. The club has fourteen years of research history, but history does not pay for plane tickets.
The road to Arizona was built on improvisation. A crowdfunding campaign raised less than two hundred reais in its first day and stalled far short of the thirty thousand needed. Schauren took out a personal bank loan to buy the tickets before the organizers' deadline. The community filled in the rest through raffles, bake sales, and benefit dinners.
When the results were announced, Schauren addressed her supporters in an emotional video: "It shows that it's not about money, it's not about resources, it's about will and capacity. And our people have that in abundance." Beatriz, in her own remarks, thanked every donor and promised to come home and celebrate together.
A classmate, Fernanda Gracieli Gonçalves Jank, had also qualified for international competition, and both students are now heading to the Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science Fair in New York in June. For Toledo, the third-place finish was more than a trophy — it was evidence that a public school in Brazil's interior can stand on the same stage as the world's most prestigious scientific centers, and hold its own.
Beatriz Maria Ferreira dos Santos walked into the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona carrying something that no amount of laboratory equipment could manufacture: the weight of a community's belief in her. The seventeen-year-old from Toledo, in the interior of Paraná state, had just placed third in the plant sciences category at ISEF 2026, one of the world's largest and most rigorous pre-university science competitions. She was competing against students from more than sixty countries, many of them backed by well-funded research institutions and state-of-the-art facilities. She was not.
Beatriz's project was elegant in its practicality: a method for cultivating orchids in vitro that was both cheaper and more sustainable than existing approaches, with direct applications to commercial seedling production. It was the kind of work that emerges not from unlimited resources but from necessity and ingenuity. She had developed it at the Colégio Estadual Jardim Porto Alegre, a public school in Toledo, under the guidance of Dioneia Schauren, who coordinates the school's science club. The club has fourteen years of history in research and a track record of placing students in national and international competitions. But history and reputation do not pay for plane tickets.
The path to Arizona was paved with improvisation. A crowdfunding campaign was launched to cover travel costs for Schauren, who would accompany the students to the competition. In the first twenty-four hours, it raised less than two hundred reais. After nearly two weeks, it remained far short of the thirty thousand reais needed for flights and meals. Schauren made a decision that spoke to her commitment: she took out a personal bank loan to purchase the tickets within the deadline set by the fair's organizers. The community rallied around the effort in other ways—raffles, bake sales, benefit dinners, online campaigns—but the teacher's willingness to risk her own finances was the bridge that made the journey possible.
When the results were announced, Schauren's emotion was visible and unguarded. In a video released after the awards ceremony, she addressed the community that had supported them: "We won third place at the world's largest science fair. Thank you all. This shows that all this effort to raise money is not in vain. We are at the world's largest science fair competing with work from all over the world, and we won third place." She went further, naming what the achievement actually proved. "It shows that it's not about money, it's not about resources, it's about will and capacity. And our people have that in abundance."
Beatriz, in her own remarks, acknowledged the specific weight of that support. She thanked everyone who had donated, saying plainly that without their help, she would not have been there. She promised to return home and celebrate together. Another student from the same school, Fernanda Gracieli Gonçalves Jank, had also qualified for major international science competitions. Both were now advancing to the Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science Fair in New York in June, carrying Toledo's name forward again.
For the school and the city, the third-place finish meant something beyond a trophy. It was evidence that students from a public school in Brazil's interior could stand on the same stage as researchers from the world's most prestigious scientific centers and hold their own. The victory belonged not to Beatriz alone, but to the teacher who borrowed money, the families who contributed what they could, the community members who organized fundraisers, and the school that had built a culture of scientific inquiry over fourteen years. It was a reminder that resources matter, but they are not destiny.
Citas Notables
We won third place at the world's largest science fair competing with work from all over the world. This shows that it's not about money, it's not about resources, it's about will and capacity.— Dioneia Schauren, science club coordinator
Without the support of everyone who donated, we would not have been able to be here.— Beatriz Maria Ferreira dos Santos
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made this particular project stand out to the judges at ISEF, given that she was competing against students from much better-funded institutions?
The project itself was practical—a cheaper, more sustainable way to grow orchids in vitro with real commercial applications. But I think what may have resonated is that it solved a real problem without relying on expensive infrastructure. That's a different kind of rigor.
The teacher took out a personal loan. That's a significant act. What does that tell us about how science education actually works in places without resources?
It tells us that the bottleneck isn't always talent or ideas. It's access. Dioneia saw a student with genuine potential and decided that the system's failure to fund her wouldn't be the end of the story. She absorbed the risk herself.
The crowdfunding campaign raised very little in the first weeks. Why do you think that is?
Toledo is a small city in the interior. People have their own financial pressures. A thirty-thousand-real goal for a science fair trip probably seemed abstract or distant to many people. It took the teacher's personal commitment to make it real.
Both students are now going to New York for another competition. Does that change the story?
It deepens it. This isn't a one-time miracle. There's a pattern here—a school with a real culture of scientific work, students who are serious, a teacher who believes in them. The third-place finish proves the model works, but the fact that two students are advancing suggests it's sustainable.
What does a third-place finish at ISEF actually mean for Beatriz's future?
It means doors open. Universities will see her name. Funding opportunities will become available. But more immediately, it means she knows she can compete at the highest level. That changes how she sees herself and what she believes is possible.