http://stellamarisexplorers.com/

Stella Maris Explorers, 11975 Seaway Road, Suite B116, Gulfport, MS (2026)

09/27/2026

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady, Star of the Sea (Stella Maris). Her title reminds us how the Blessed Mother has always been a guiding light for those navigating uncertain waters.

At Stella Maris Explorers, we see this truth lived out each week in the art, faith, and science enrichment programs our children attend. Just as sailors once looked to the stars for direction, our young learners look to Mary’s steady light to guide them toward truth, goodness, and beauty.

When our member children marvel at the beauty of creation in science, when they make something true and lovely in art, when they grow in faith through prayer and stories of the Saints, they are learning to orient their lives toward Christ, just as Mary always does.

Today is a reminder for us, too. If the waters of homeschooling and parenting feel overwhelming, we can lift our eyes to Stella Maris. She calms our hearts, steadies our hands, and keeps us faithful in the daily work of raising future saints.

May Our Lady, Star of the Sea bless our families, strengthen us in our vocation, and guide our children safely to heaven.

Stella Maris, pray for us! 🙏

09/22/2026

🥳 Happy Birthday to our co-founder, President, and Executive Director, Mrs. Ashley Rodriguez!

If you’ve been part of Stella Maris Explorers for any length of time, you know that Ashley has poured so much of her heart into building this beautiful community. From dreaming up the vision for Stella Maris Explorers to welcoming families, encouraging our team, planning, organizing, teaching, and somehow keeping a million little details moving behind the scenes, she gives so generously of herself to this ministry.

Her talent for organization and administration is absolutely crucial to the success of Stella Maris. There is so much that happens behind the scenes to make our programs, events, and weekly meetings possible, and we are incredibly grateful that Ashley shares these particular gifts with our community. Her ability to bring order to big ideas and keep things moving is a tremendous blessing to all of us!

But perhaps what we love most about Ashley is the heart behind all that she does. As a Catholic mother and longtime catechist, she has a deep conviction that our children come to love the Faith by living it. That conviction is woven into the very fabric of Stella Maris Explorers, from our celebrations of the liturgical year to our art, science, Saints, field trips, and all the little moments of wonder we share together.

Ashley’s background in architecture and Catholic studies has given her a particular appreciation for beauty, tradition, and the way our physical world can point us toward something greater. And we see that same gift at work in Stella Maris Explorers every week.

We are so grateful that God brought Ashley to this community and entrusted her with helping to build it. She has helped create not just a program, but a place where Catholic homeschooling families can learn, explore, make friends, and grow together.

May your birthday be filled with the same joy, beauty, and abundant blessings that you have helped bring to so many others.

Happy Birthday! We love you and are so grateful for all that you do! ⚓️💙

09/19/2026

This week at Stella Maris Explorers Club, our learners continued exploring the relationship between place, people, and the ways we understand and communicate about the world around us.

🌿 In science, we traveled to the rainforests of South America. Learner's examined the defining features of this biome, explored its distinct layers from forest floor to emergent canopy, and considered the remarkable adaptations that allow animals to live within each environment. They then demonstrated their understanding by constructing mixed-media 3D dioramas of the rainforest.

🌵 In art, we turned our attention to the Missionary Period of American history and the American Southwest. We considered the Spanish Catholic missionaries who traveled into the interior of North America, often motivated not by wealth or glory but by a desire to share the Gospel.

Learners compared the strong lines and symbolic patterns found in Pueblo and Apache art with the rounded forms characteristic of much Spanish Catholic missionary art. Though these traditions look very different, both used visual language to communicate stories, beliefs, and information.

We then continued our study of sculpture with bas relief, learning the difference between relief sculpture and sculpture in the round. After examining a bas relief Nativity scene, learners created their own relief sculptures around symbols meaningful to their lives. Some chose symbols of ancestral heritage. Others represented their faith or objects of personal significance.

K-6 learners worked with modeling compound and cardboard, while middle and high school learners had the opportunity to work with either modeling compound or clay. Some classes also examined recreated Indigenous artifacts based on Cherokee and Plains cultures, generously brought in by one of our parents.

✝️ In faith, we entered this same historical period through the life of Venerable Antonio Margil, a Franciscan missionary from Spain whose cause for canonization remains open.

Fr. Antonio spent much of his life traveling through what is now Mexico and the southwestern United States. When he entered a new community, he encountered people whose languages, customs, and ways of life were different from his own. Rather than expecting others to adapt to him, he learned Indigenous languages so that he could communicate the Gospel in languages people understood. He traveled enormous distances on foot and embraced a remarkably simple life of obedience.

His story gave us a concrete way to consider heroic virtue: the faith , hope, and love required to respond faithfully to the particular people and circumstances God places before us.

Across our lessons this week, learners were reminded that cultures develop distinctive ways of expressing what they see, value, and remember. Studying those differences carefully helps us become better observers of both the created world and the Creator who made us all!

09/11/2026

Our Explorers took their learning on the road for a field trip to the Archaeology Museum at the University of South Alabama in Mobile!

The visit was the perfect complement to our recent weeks of art and faith enrichment, as our learners have been exploring Native American art and the lives of the earliest Native American saints.

At the Archaeology Museum, history and prehistory became things our Explorers could see, touch, and investigate for themselves. University students guided the children through hands-on activities that gave them the opportunity to examine actual archaeological artifacts up close and consider what those objects can tell us about the people who made and used them.

We are grateful to the University of South Alabama and the wonderful student guides who made the experience so engaging for our Explorers. What a joy to watch young minds approach the past with curiosity, careful observation, and wonder!

08/28/2026

Yesterday at Stella Maris Explorers Club, our learners continued exploring the natural world, early American art, and the lives of American Saints!

🌳🌲In science, children studied the animals of the temperate forests of North America. They explored both deciduous and coniferous forests and considered the different niches animals occupy within these ecosystems. They had a blast working on their research skills to add pages to their animal passports.

✂️In Art: children reviewed last week’s discussion of Indigenous Americans and paper manipulation techniques. We discussed the art elements of line and shape and how to use those to create the principles of pattern and repetition, using those to enhance last week’s creations. The youngest learners explored paper-based patterns and created and embellished pinch pots made of model magic.

🐢In faith, we met St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint. St. Kateri’s life reminds us that God creates each person for a particular time, place, and people. He gave St. Kateri the gifts, circumstances, and opportunities she needed to become a saint and to witness to Christ among her own people.

And that same Divine Providence is at work in our lives. God can use our own gifts, suffering, and circumstances to help us become holy and to bring His love to the people around us.

What a joy to watch our Explorers learn, create, and grow together each week! 💙

08/23/2026

Happy Birthday to our own Mallory Carey! 🥳

Today we are celebrating one of the wonderful people who makes Stella Maris Explorers what it is: our treasurer and lead science instructor, Mrs. Mallory Brooke Carey!

Mrs. Mallory is a creative, craft-loving mom of two, and a homeschooling veteran.

A graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, where she met her husband, Mrs. Mallory also holds a Master of Business degree from Spring Hill. Her expertise in organizational behavior, logistical efficiencies, fundraising, and corporate meeting management makes her an invaluable part of the Stella Maris board.

But perhaps nothing captures Mallory quite like her passion for science and her exuberant creativity. As our lead science instructor, she has the joy of watching tiny scientists light up as they explore the wonders of God's creation. Her enthusiasm is contagious, her ideas are endless, and her love for her students shines through in everything she does.

We are so grateful for Mallory's generous service to Stella Maris Explorers and for all the ways she helps our community grow and flourish.

Happy Birthday, Mal! May your year ahead be filled with joy, wonder, creativity, and your own endless energy!

"Go forth and set the world on fire!" 🔥

08/14/2026

Our first Stella Maris Explorers Club meeting of the fall semester is in the books!

Thank you to all of our returning families and our new families for the great honor of your participation. We had a joyful first day catching up with old friends, making new ones, and jumping feet first into another semester of high-quality homeschool enrichment.

🪱 Science: We began our study of animals and their habitats with a hands-on look at earthworms and the adaptations that help them thrive in their environment.

✂️ Art: We introduced our year-long focus on 3D art across American art history. The children got right to work creating all kinds of three-dimensional art using construction paper folding techniques.

✝️ Faith:We opened our year of American Saints by exploring God's Providence in the lives of the saints and in our own lives.

🎶 And we finished the day with the return of Schola, our Latin chant choir!

We are so grateful to begin another year of learning, creating, praying, singing, and growing together. Here's to a wonderful semester! 🥳

07/16/2026

We're excited to welcome the Sisters from Pauline Media and our friends from Stella Maris Gifts to our Moms' Back-to-School Retreat!

They'll have books, gifts, and other Catholic items available for purchase throughout the day. Be sure to stop by their tables and support these great ministries and local businesses.

We look forward to seeing you at the retreat!

07/15/2026

⏰ Last chance!

Tomorrow is the final day to purchase tickets for our Moms' Back-to-School Retreat!

Don't miss this beautiful day of prayer, fellowship, inspiring Catholic speakers, thoughtful discussion, and encouragement as you prepare your family for the school year ahead.

Whether you're a homeschooling mom, private school mom, or public school mom, we'd love to welcome you.

🎟️ Grab your ticket before registration closes tomorrow. We can't wait to spend this special day with you!

07/13/2026

👶 Babies under one are welcome!

We know that for many mothers, your littlest disciple goes wherever you go. That's why nursing babies and infants under one are welcome to join you at our Moms' Back-to-School Retreat.

Take a day to be spiritually refreshed with inspiring Catholic speakers, prayer, planning, and encouragement as you prepare for a new school year. You don't have to choose between caring for your baby and caring for your soul.

If you haven't purchased your ticket yet, now is the time! We'd love to spend the day with you as we encourage one another in the beautiful vocation of Catholic motherhood.

🎟️ https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/moms-back-to-school-retreat

Stella Maris Explorers

09/27/2026

09/22/2026

09/19/2026

09/11/2026

08/28/2026

08/23/2026

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07/13/2026

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