ATLANTA—Local schools are using the upcoming trip of Pope Francis to the United States and his initiatives to excite students.

To celebrate the first World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, middle school students at Christ the King School used a photo promoting conservation for a series of classroom lessons.

Students learned prayer used by Pope Francis by studying a knotted rope and the knotty problems of the world.

First up was religion class. Then science teachers asked: “Have we been given dominion or stewardship over the earth and creation?” The photo was made into a giant puzzle. Pieces were distributed to each middle school homeroom so that students could reflect and write a prayer about their specific puzzle piece. Homerooms visited the Prayer Garden to pray and to reassemble the puzzle as a lesson in how ownership requires caring for God’s creation.

After learning about a favorite Marian devotion of Pope Francis, under the title, “Mary, Undoer of Knots,” K-5 homerooms received a section of knotted rope to help them to consider the “knots” or problems in the world that need Mary’s undoing and intercession. After naming their concerns on each knot, they will attach ropes to form a rosary and place it in the Prayer Garden, where they will pray for the needs of the earth through Mary’s intercession.