So far, Mary on the Mantel has encouraged students to tell a friend something nice, pray for refugees displaced by war, make a gratitude list, make a card for someone who is sick or elderly and many more kind deeds as they prepare for the true meaning of Christmas. Courtesy Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock.

Mary on the Mantel was the creation of a cross-curricular activity between the STEM elective class and the Catholicism elective class. Courtesy Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock.

Mary on the Mantel guides Holy Souls School students

3D statues of Mary prepares students for Christmas season

Published: December 25, 2023

By Katie Zakrzewski
Associate Editor

Courtesy Holy Souls School

Courtesy Holy Souls School

Who needs the Elf on the Shelf when you’ve got Mary on the Mantel?

Teachers at Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock are being assisted by several statutes of the Blessed Virgin Mary placed around the school, encouraging students to do good deeds to prepare for the birth of Christ this Advent season. Amy Bratcher, director of development and marketing for Holy Souls School, said the idea came from a spiritual committee formed several years ago.

“Our number one goal is to infuse our day-to-day with the values and beliefs of our Catholic faith,” Bratcher said. “We have been working on things to incorporate each month and each liturgical season. One of the spiritual committee members found Mary on the Mantel on a Catholic blog that she follows and presented the idea to the committee. We all felt that it not only perfectly fit our school mission to nurture each child's faith but also our church mission to encounter Jesus through serving others.”

Bratcher said students at Holy Souls School love to do acts of kindness and serve their school, parish and community — Mary on the Mantel helped make that connection.

“Through kindness and service, we are spreading God's love, preparing our hearts for Jesus, and deepening our relationship with Jesus by living our faith,” Bratcher said.

The Mary on the Mantel activity also gave flexibility in activities.

“Teachers were able to implement the program to whatever level best fit their students and class,” Bratcher said. “Some statues moved around as she prepared for Jesus, and some stayed in the same place, but every day a new message was found with Mary. The messages encouraged the students to do a certain act of kindness to spread and experience various values such as kindness, joy and service.”

Holly Seaman, second-grade teacher at Holy Souls, said the new activities have brought much conversation.

“Mary on the Mantel has brought more discussion about Mary’s journey to Bethlehem amongst my students than ever before,” Seaman said. “The children’s excitement grew each day as Mary got closer to ‘Bethlehem’ in our room. Mary brings the children a task each day while on her journey. These tasks have built grace, compassion and gentleness in our class.”

Second-grader Lauren Givens agreed.

“I really liked Mary on the Mantel because she brought us tasks that made us kinder and nicer,” Givens said.

All students from PreK-3 through eighth grade are participating in Mary on the Mantel activities.

“We wanted a program that not only helped our students experience and express the love of God each day but that also brought us together as a faith community as we prepared for Christ's birth,” Bratcher said.

Mary on the Mantel was the creation of a cross-curricular activity between the STEM elective class and the Catholicism elective class.

“The Junior High 3D STEM elective class created a Mary statue for every classroom in the school using their 3D printers,” Bratcher said. “The students in that class and the Junior High Art and Catholicism elective class worked together to paint them. The week before Advent began, all the classes were read the story ‘Mary on the Mantel’ and discussed the program as they came to the library. The teachers were given their class's Mary statue, a list of simple acts of kindness ideas they could use and a map of the Holy Land.”

Holy Souls School shared in a Facebook post that so far, Mary on the Mantel has encouraged students to tell a friend something nice, pray for refugees displaced by war, make a gratitude list, make a card for someone who is sick or elderly and many more kind deeds as they prepare for the true meaning of Christmas.

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