About Us
Project SEED has been instrumental in the lives of its students and classroom teachers. Here are some of their stories.
Demarron Berkeley, former SEED student, Attorney
“My strongest memories about Project SEED, and the excitement we had whenever it was a SEED day, we all got really excited about math and learning new things. I developed a love of learning—it made me want to go outside of school and investigate things. It oriented my approach to learning where I took more ownership of it. I developed a lot of confidence—even to challenge a teacher. It builds foundations for later on. I think my approach to learning and teaching is more Socratic…I try to get the students engaged like the SEED teachers did. I’m 38 now…the fact that I still remember (Project SEED) so vividly—how engaged I was—tells you the impact of Project SEED on my life and how I’ve carried it with me through the years.”
Erica Hemphill: Former SEED Student, Current Math Teacher
“Project SEED benefitted me personally in that it introduced me to higher-level math at an early age. It allowed me to be exposed to that math and not be afraid of it.”
Latrina Rhinehart: 5th Grade Teacher
“I’ve noticed because (the SEED instructor) does a lot of mental math problems, that I’m getting better at it, and so my anxiety with number sense has actually decreased because of this.”
Susan Yerkes-Bender, Teacher
“I learned so much as a teacher, because it had been awhile since I had watched someone use the Socratic method of teaching with a classroom. That method of querying the students to get their responses so that they come to develop their own answers and come to their own conclusions – that’s a real art! I learned a great deal as a teacher in observing another teacher do that, and then I found I was better able to use that myself.”
- 6th grade student, Compton, California
“Project SEED was fun, creative, and imaginative. It helped with my math skills. I learned a whole lot more than I thought. On my bad days I would think of ditching but knew it would help so I went anyways.”

