Our Story
Our Patron Saint
SEAS Stands for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the patron saint of our program. Born and raised Episcopalian, after her marriage, she moved to Italy where she discovered the Catholic faith. After the death of her husband due to illness, Elizabeth returned to the United States, and soon after converted to the Catholic faith along with her children. Her husband’s family disagreed with this decision and subsequently disowned her. As a result, Elizabeth was forced to raise her children without any support.
Through her time homeschooling her children, Elizabeth saw a great need for a Catholic approach to education. By God's grace, she began creating curriculums and methods for education that was integrated with the Catholic Faith.
Elizabeth's pursuit ultimate established the foundation for Catholic education in the United States. She later founded the first Catholic School in New York, and then later a religious order dedicated to the consecrated life and assisting with the education/service of the sick and poor.
Where it all began
SEAS is the answer to so many prayers. God had put in the heart of two friends the desire to put their talents at the service of those in need and, in particular, those who we didn’t know needed our help and who didn’t know what to ask for themselves.
At the same time, the Lord was moving the heart of Fr. Matthew VanSmoorenburg, the pastor of St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church, to invite the community to “go out” and evangelize a certain area of his parish that was suffering greatly. Veronica, met a woman who had been approached by the school system asking for help with the children of community w within the boundaries of St. Brendan. All within a week!
Veronica connected the dots. Before her role at St. Brendan as the Director of Hispanic Ministries and Faith Formation, Veronica had collaborated with an after-school program in Clarkston, GA with the Missionaries of Charity. Inspired by the experience, she wanted to bring a similar program to St. Brendan where the needs of the community are similar to those of the children in Clarkston. With this in mind and the support of many others, SEAS was born.
It takes both sides–someone to provide the money and space, and another to provide the academic programming
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The SEAS program began during the summer of 2022 with children in 1st-8th grade. The target audience was students that the Public School System considered an “at-risk” population due to the fact that their parents could not help them with their homework because of a language barrier or extended working hours which is common to the immigrant and low-income communities. By offering this program, our intention is to break the cycle of poverty by helping the youth become successful in their academics as well as their self-esteem.
During its first summer, SEAS operated within the premises of St Brendan four days a week for seven weeks. The program offered the children Bible studies, faith formation, and academics in all the STEAM areas. Focusing on reading and writing, as well as math and PA.
This is a safe place to come after school where kids are fed healthy food and do their school work
After a successful summer, with approval of Fr. Matthew VanSmoorenburg, SEAS became an after-school program at the Parish, meeting for two hours each school day during the school year. St. Brendan has provided the space needed to host as many as 38 children during the summer and 30 during the school year. In addition, it provides access to the Parish Kitchen, all the needed insurance coverages, and a gift deductibility contribution program. It is one of more than 58 ministries the parish supports and collaborates with the Catholic Church on expanding our Lord, Jesus Christ kingdom.
The SEAS program is tailored to students in elementary and middle school who are underperforming academically. “These students are underperforming primarily due to a lack of resources, such as access to the internet and the need for additional tutoring”, explains Veronica.
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Each family is interviewed before joining SEAS. The family needs are discussed and based on well-written acceptable criteria, the parish staff then discerns the best way to help each family. There are currently only 30 spots available at any giving time and therefore the demand is served on a first come first served basis.
The program offers to the family the following programs:
i) Information and registration to faith formation on how to receive the Holy Sacraments
ii) English classes (ESL) for adults,
iii) access to the parish food pantry and all the other community services that St Brendan’s offers.
The SEAS family expanded his reach. Offering service hours opportunities for the teens of the parish. Parishioners from other ministries have become involved in the after-school program as registered mentors, volunteers and teachers as well as cooks who provide freshly made meals for everyone in the program.
These students are overachievers who are delighted to teach “little ones” and love what they do.
They also benefit from SEAS.
As most children these days, our kids at SEAS were used to eating unhealthy meals on a regular basis. At SEAS we provide healthy meals and snacks throughout the day, as well as drinking water instead of carbonated drinks or sugary “juices”. At the beginning, most of the children do not want to eat vegetables or fish. Our cooks always ask them to “try it”. If the children want more of what they like, they need to eat everything on their plate first in order not to waste food. At the end of every season, the children are eating broccoli, kale, even Brussel sprouts, and they love it so much that they come back for more! Every meal has protein and by the end of the week, they have eaten something from every food group.
Our tutors are teenagers from high schools with an average GPA of 3.8 or higher. These students are overachievers who are delighted to teach “little ones” and love what they do. They also benefit from SEAS. In August 2022, Shri (name changed) started volunteering 2-3 times a week because her boyfriend’s mom would pick him up from school to take him to SEAS. Since her mom was always late, she started coming along. The next summer, she asked her boyfriend’s mom when they were coming back because she already asked permission to volunteer again although she is not Catholic and lives about 45 minutes from St Brendan. Now Shri has started to ask about the Catholic Faith and what she needs to do to be baptized.
Content for this page was derived and inspired by an article featuring SEAS Back on Track from in the Georgia Bulletin,
written by Samantha Smith. To view the full article, please click here.
Our kids
Their success, is our success
Anthony
Nancy Trejo is thankful for the SEAS after-school program, where her son, fifth grader Anthony, is progressing academically. The family has been involved with SEAS since the summer of 2022.
Trejo is a fan of the program because she sees all the students learning. While her son enjoys math, he is receiving more support in reading. At the end of his second summer, Anthony was more confident and his teachers and the dean of the school praised his achievements.
Trejo and her son have grown in their faith by being involved in the SEAS program. They talk about God more together as Anthony is taking faith formation classes. She is also bonding with other parents in SEAS. “It’s good for the family,” she said.
José
anita
Anita (name changed), arrived from Venezuela just a few months before starting the summer program. Her mom couldn’t help her with her school work and was questioning her decision to come to the USA. In the beginning, Anita did not understand English. Every day, she worked one-on-one with a bilingual tutor. Seven weeks later, Anita was reading some basic books and could communicate with other tutors in English.
José (name changed for privacy) struggled emotionally after losing her sister to cancer among other family difficulties. He was a boy who did not talk, did not play with the other kids, and did not want to eat. At the beginning of the summer, he wore a sweatshirt all day, despite the Georgia heat. Everyone was very kind to him, his mentors paid special attention to his reading comprehension and listening to his oral narrations. By the end of the third week, Jose was playing soccer in a t-shirt and eating up to 3 plates of food. He even asked to bring home the book he was reading because he didn’t want to spend the weekend without it. His tutors were very excited while telling his daily improvements.
