Catholic Schools week is a national celebration of Catholic education in the United States. The first ever Catholic Schools week was held in 1974, it starts on the last Sunday of January and runs all week. This year, that was January 29 to February 4 with the theme of “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service.”

St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Catholic School (SEAS) celebrated the week with themed days for outfits for students, tours of the school for local businesses, a “Religion Bee”, themed prayers for the day, a special performance from the Hastings High School Band, Taco Bingo, a special Mass for the school and no homework for the weekend to allow the students to spend time with their families.

Themed Days Each day, students and faculty were allowed to break from the traditional uniform and wear a variety of themed outfits for each day. Monday was Comfy Day, Tuesday was Sports day, Wednesday was Perfect Uniform Day/Dress Your Best Day, Thursday was Career/Character Day and Friday was Spirit Day where kids dressed in Red and Blue to show their SEAS spirit.

The Tour

“Our fifth-grade teacher had our fifth-grade students write letters to 150 Plus community members and invited them in for a tour,” said Becky Perez, Advancement Director/PSA. “The community members could come and go when they wanted to throughout the week to do their tours. Then our fifth-grade students actually brought those community members around to show them all about our school.”

The students were able to practice a variety of skills with this particular exercise. First, the writing the letters by hand, then the process of mailing the letters. Once the business confirmed when they would be in, the student that sent the letter would need to pick a classmate as a tour partner. Those two needed to decide what to show around the school as well as what to talk about as part of the tour. The Journal was invited by Ambrose Bauer, and he picked Natalie Steinke as his partner.

Ambrose and Natalie met us in the office for the tour where we were introduced to the kids by Mrs. Perez. Mrs. Perez snapped a photo of the tour group, and we were off.

The kids brought us around both floors of the school showing each of the classrooms and the Saint that is assigned to each room.

“We just got to decorate our doors today,” explained Natalie. “At least one person from every grade helps decorate the doors for the Saint.”

During the tour, we were welcomed into the classroom for first grade which is taught by Hastings High School Alum, and fellow classmate of yours truly, Jenny Harris. Mrs. Harris gave a little history on our connection and what I do for the. Then they told the tour group what they were working on in class, the combination of two vowels and how that changes the sound.

The tour continued and Ambrose explained that each class period is 45 minutes long. Once we reached the chapel, the kids tried to explain what the various stained-glass windows were depicting.

We saw more classrooms including the religion room. The coolest part was seeing how technology integrated into the teaching for each of the rooms via the Smart Board. The Smart Board is a combination of whiteboard, TV and computer. They can be used to draw on, as a projector from a nearby computer or even as a TV to watch various video configurations.

The final stop on the multi-floor side was a quick view of the newly remodeled teachers lounge. They did a nice job giving the faculty a spot they can rest and feel comfortable while enjoying their lunch.

The lower floor has the administrative office, library, and grades K-5. The younger grades stay in their classes for the most part with the exception of music and gym, the older grades move as needed depending on the subject. The upper floor has the middle school classrooms, a small chapel and the newly refurbished teachers lounge. The other side of the building has the gymnasium that serves also as the auditorium with a stage, lunchroom and general allpurpose room. Off to the side of the gymnasium is the kitchen as well as the boiler room and storage.

Religion Bee

The Religion Bee is exactly what is sounds like, a knowledge competition around religion similar in format to that of a Spelling Bee.

“This was our 17th annual Religion Bee,” said Kathy Gleich, Religion teacher. “I looked for one to use in the school and there was not one, so I created one. I actually ended up writing three different versions because kids here are in sixth, seventh and eighth grade and I wanted to make sure they don’t hear the same questions.”

Mrs. Gleich explained that there are a number of schools in the region that use the same program and they hold their own Bee at their school. Each of the school’s winners then come to SEAS for a regional Bee to crown one winner on April 20th.

About SEAS

St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton School is a private, PreK-8 Catholic School located at 600 Tyler Street in Hastings.

“I feel blessed to be the principal of this amazing school. I have been a part of Catholic education for over 25 years, including teaching middle school here at SEAS before becoming principal. The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School and Parish isn’t just a community, it’s a family. The staff is dedicated to the mission of the school: making Jesus Christ known and loved through living our sacramental way of life, in partnership with families, and fostered in Spirituality, Excellence, Academics, and Service,” said Principal Tim Sullivan in his online statement.

The roots of SEAS go back to 1856 when there were two Catholic parishes in Hastings, Guardian Angels Catholic School was started by Irish immigrants on Oct. 2, 1856. 14 years later, St. Boniface Catholic School and Parish was started by German Immigrants in 1870. 100 years later, the two schools merged into one school and in 1987, the two parishes merged into one and became St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton. The parishes worshipped in the existing churches until the present church at 2035 15th St. West was built in 1994.

Being a private school, SEAS has a bit more flexibility around class sizes.

“We do keep smaller class sizes, so we max out at 25 kids in a classroom, and then if there's more than 25, we will create another classroom, as needed,” explained Perez.

They do their best to keep the student ratio per adult around one teacher to 14 students. That allows the school to be even more focused on the kids. That student focus shows up in their Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test scores. SEAS MAP scores range from 2-5 percent higher than other area schools.

Because SEAS is a private school, there is a tuition cost to attend, but there are opportunities for tuition aide and grants. Mrs. Perez is always happy to work with new families to help with enrollment. For more information on enrollment, visit www.seas-school.org or call 651437-3098.

Catholic Schools Week may be over, but SEAS has another opportunity for you to see the school shine. This weekend, Feb. 10 and 11 is their annual basketball tournament. The boys and girls teams will kick off the action Friday night and on Saturday there is an Alumni game celebrating the 62nd annual Patriot Tournament.

Charlotte Kaufmann and Reese Keene were the tour guides for Mayor Mary Fasbender on “Comfy day.” Photo courtesy of Becky Perez.

“Dress your best day” was a day for all students to dress up and look their best for Mass. Here are kindergarteners John Collins, Lauren Mast, Cameron Akre and Maxwell Lillie.Photo courtesy of Becky Perez.