CEIP El Salvador in Mutxamel Awarded Joan Ponsoda Educational Innovation Prize

CEIP El Salvador in Mutxamel has been awarded the Joan Ponsoda Educational Innovation Prize 2025, a recognition granted by La Cívica – Escola Valenciana de l'Alacantí and the Town Hall of Sant Joan d'Alacant. The award ceremony will be held this Friday, 31st October, at 7 PM in the Conference Room of the Municipal Library "Amèlia Asensi Bevià" in Sant Joan d'Alacant.

Representatives from the Town Hall, the Board of Directors of La Cívica – Escola Valenciana de l'Alacantí, the educational community of CEIP El Salvador, and Professor Joan Ponsoda, who will close the event with a speech, will participate in the ceremony. The aim of this award is to acknowledge and highlight the innovative work being carried out in educational centres in the l'Alacantí region, as well as to promote transformative initiatives that encourage the use of Valencian.

The awarded project, "Amb D de Dona i amb C de Ciència," from CEIP El Salvador in Mutxamel, has been distinguished for its convergence of three pillars in 21st-century education: interest in science, gender perspective, and the use of Valencian as the language of science and critical thinking. Coordinated by Alícia Castelló de León and M. Estela Llorens Martínez, the project has established a stable space within the school dedicated to scientific dissemination with a feminist perspective, through experimental workshops, talks, and visits from female scientists, as well as external activities at universities and research centres.

The jury highlighted that this initiative has managed to "turn science into a living, rooted experience in Valencian, capable of inspiring vocations among the children at the school." The project leaders state that "if even one student decides to pursue science and does so knowing that Valencian is also a useful language for science, it will have been worth it."

The jury also appreciated the quality and diversity of the other projects presented in this edition. Among them, "Sonrisoles," from the Escola Matinera AMPA CEIP Mediterrani in Alicante, an initiative that works on emotional education during morning reception with creative and cohesion activities; "Vida pràctica a l'Escola ECO," from CEIP Eloi Coloma in Xixona, an inclusive project that promotes the autonomy of students with special educational needs through everyday and functional activities; and "Literatura i memòria," from IES Las Lomas in Alicante, focused on literary and historical routes that help discover Valencian cultural identity with great student involvement and social projection.

The Joan Ponsoda Educational Innovation Prize celebrates its tenth edition this year. Since 2015, this recognition has distinguished pedagogical initiatives that promote creativity, inclusion, and the use of Valencian in classrooms. Among the schools awarded in previous editions are IES Sant Vicent, IES Mare Nostrum in Alicante, CEIP La Torre de les Maçanes, CEIP Mediterrani in Alicante, CEIP Rajolestes in Sant Joan d'Alacant, CEIP Eloi Coloma in Xixona, CEIP Crist de la Pau in Sant Joan d'Alacant, CEIP Sagrada Familia in Xixona, and IES Maria Blasco in Sant Vicent del Raspeig.