After sitting unused for over a decade, the classrooms, offices and hallways of St. Sebastian STEM Academy in Sturtevant needed some TLC before the school reopened its doors for the 2023-24 academic year.
But more important than the window upgrades and the brand-new flooring was the mission to recapture the Catholic identity of the school, which initially closed in 2012.
“I think it’s important, from the second you walk in, that you can tell we’re a Catholic school,” said Principal Amanda McCauley. “That’s our No. 1 thing — our Catholic identity.”
A few old crucifixes had been left behind, along with some statues. But most of the devotional objects and religious decor had been donated to parishioners when the school was shuttered more than a decade ago.
“There really wasn’t anything here anymore,” said McCauley. “It was just empty walls.”
The school applied for and was awarded a GIFTS grant from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the purchase of statues, crucifixes, Bibles, Catholic picture books and other items that would help the building’s classrooms and hallways once again come alive with a visual representation of its faith.
“We wanted (visitors and students) to have that feeling of, when they walk through these halls and when they walk in these classrooms, ‘I can tell this is a Catholic school,’” said McCauley.
One of the most important developments in the school’s makeover has been the implementation of “prayer corners” in every classroom, where students and teachers can gather for a quiet moment of devotion, Scripture reading and hands-on religious education. Prekindergarten educational assistant Colleen Benner described the corner of the 3K classroom as a place where “we come together as a class and learn about Jesus and his love for each of us, to learn about Mary, the saints, and to learn about special feast days.”
“It has a bright rug that has Psalm 118:24: ‘This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it,’” said Benner, who added that there are also portraits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary flanking the classroom’s crucifix — “beautiful images that remind our students and all who enter the classroom how much we are loved by Jesus and Mary.”
To design the prayer corners, McCauley and her staff looked at different examples of the concept in other schools and brainstormed what would work best for their students. Most items were purchased from Holy Family Catholic Bookstore in Pleasant Prairie.
“(Owner) Anne (Ricchio) gave us a discount on everything, and she’s sent me stuff that would be a good fit for our school,” said McCauley.
Every prayer corner has a piece of fabric, reminiscent of an altar corporal, upon which sits a Bible, statues and battery-operated candles. The color of the cloth changes with each liturgical season.
“Our kids have really liked looking at the color (of the cloth), and our teachers explain the different seasons within the Catholic Church,” said McCauley. Prayer corners are also stocked with plenty of manipulatives, toys and items that kids can pick up and touch. “They can look at the saint cards, they can hold the rosary. We’ve got the Nativity that the kids can play with and the Noah’s Ark that they can play with. A lot of times you don’t get to play with ‘the church stuff,’ you know? It’s kind of nice for them to actually learn through that hands-on, tactile way.”
After its Catholic identity, hands-on, inquiry-based learning is at the heart of the mission of St. Sebastian, which is the Siena School System’s first STEM-focused academy. The plan is to add one grade level per year. There is increasing interest in enrollment from local families, McCauley added.
Because the current students are so young (the school currently has students in 3K to first grade), the presence of visual representations are even more crucial.
“Especially with young kids, they can’t read, so they look at these pictures and these items and they’re really learning about our Catholic faith,” said McCauley.
In addition to developing the prayer corners, the GIFTS grant funded the restoration of seven aging statues that had been left in the school. “They looked old, and they were kind of falling apart. We had a gentleman from our parish come in, and he spent hours hand-painting and fixing them,” McCauley said, adding that the parish of St. Sebastian has been the school’s “biggest cheerleader” since it reopened. Thanks to the GIFTS grant, the school was able to compensate the parishioner for his time and expertise.
“Our mission statement says we model Jesus’ love, faith, kindness and compassion — those are our four main words — and I think you can feel that having the visuals there,” said McCauley. “When they were just redoing all the classrooms, it looked really nice — it was all brand new. But it just felt empty and cold. And now it feels warm and welcoming. You can tell now that this is a Catholic school, that we put prayer and God above all else.”
Dcn. Eric Sewell assists a student during the May Crowning event at St. Sebastian STEM Academy in Sturtevant. (Submitted photo)
