The Local Memory at School Project encourages teachers and students to recover the history of the communities in which they live. Information is gathered through interviews with local residents, using a methodology developed by the Museu da Pessoa and the Avisa Lá Institute, which also provide training for the educators participating in the project.

The project began in the second half of 2005 in ten schools and five Socio-Educational Centers in the neighborhood of São Miguel Paulista, in São Paulo (SP). During the first months, the students and teachers learned to work with research and data collection. Later they went into the field to interview people, collect information, and verify photos and data. While they learn the techniques, the students are also encouraged to use information resources to perform tasks, thus contributing to their effective digital inclusion and not just using the computer for leisure. The fact of registering what has been researched helps to stimulate reading and writing skills.

At the end of nine months of work, the inhabitants of the researched communities present three products to the public: (i) an itinerant exhibition of the materials collected in schools and public spaces in the area, (ii) books or albums containing the written and photographic records of the history of the locality, from the viewpoint of each of the participating teaching institutions, and (iii) a book developed by the educators participating in the project, reporting on pedagogical aspects and on the the work processes used, as a way of permanently recording, and publicizing, the knowledge acquired.

In 2007, the project contemplated more schools having the participation of teachers involved in the initiative acting as multipliers of knowledge in other educational institutions.