Companies of the citrus sector created units to provide children with quality education and full-time assistance - since they believe it is not additional income that make families allow their children to evade school - with actions to supplement children and teenagers' regular school activities. These units are called Supplementary Education Centers.

Inaugurated in May 1999, the Supplementary Education Center Fundecitrus-Itápolis assists 400 children and teenagers, from 7 to 14 years old. It is the second SEC built by the citrus sector and is a result of the partnership between Fundecitrus, Sucocítrico Cutrale and the Government of the City of Itápolis. The first one was inaugurated in Araraquara, in September 1997.

The partnership of the Government of the City of Itápolis in the program was fundamental for the construction and development of the new SEC Fundecitrus. The Government of Itápolis donated the land of 1,500 square meters for construction of the school and is responsible for providing snacks and transportation for the children, and paying for the teachers and staff.

Classes offered by the SECs do not replace formal education. A child must be enrolled in a public school before he/she can enroll at a SEC. The child spends either mornings or afternoons in a public school, and the other half of the day, in Center. The SEC Fundecitrus-Itápolis is managed by a council and is open the whole year.

In an 700 square meters building, students have their activities divided into seven workshops, all equipped by Cutrale: Interpersonal Relationships; Texts; Recreation and Games; Music; Daily Organization Practices (notions of hygiene, how to protect the environment, and the labor market); Corporal and Artistic Expression, like theater and dance; and Computer Science. In this SEC, children also learn how to grow vegetables in a greenhouse. These vegetables are used in the SEC's cafeteria.

For more information on the SECs, please visit the website: www.fundecitrus.com.br