In this work, we weave strings of memories of the Escola Técnica Federal do Espírito Santo, in the 1960s, to highlight the important and complex relationship between mathematics and vocational education. Our goal is to show that the development of mathematics and its teaching, throughout history, walked side by side with the scientific and technological development, which made possible for people to create techniques and technologies to solve problem situations of their reality. Thus, in the context of the mid-twentieth century, mathematics teaching has become a very important element in the school curriculum and in vocational education, shedding light on the historicity and contradiction of the relationship between work and education. Thus, we conclude that the presence of mathematics in the curriculum of vocational education illuminates human existence, evidenced in the experiences that configure the conceptions of education, work and human kind
