This fall, middle school students at St. Leo the Great School in Fairfax designed 3D Jesse Tree ornaments in a computer class integrating faith with technology.
In the class, led by Kathleen Burgess, teacher and assistant principal, and Michael Hedderson, technology coordinator, students researched the history behind the Jesse Tree. The devotion helps participants count down to Christmas with daily Bible readings and ornaments that represent the reading for that day.
Each student chose a Bible passage representing a major event in the history of the faith and sketched a symbol to represent the Bible passage. For several weeks, students used Tinkercad, a computer-assisted design software program, to create their Jesse Tree ornament. They then printed the ornaments using St. Leo’s 3D printer.
Each day starting Nov. 29, one student leads prayer, reads the Bible passage he or she researched, and places the Jesse Tree ornament on the tree. After Epiphany, the students will take their ornaments home as keepsakes.
