SNOHOMISH – Every Tuesday after school, a group of students at St. Michael School in Snohomish write down their intentions and prayers for friends, families and even the world. They slip the pieces of paper into a wooden “intentions box,” placed at the foot of a Mary statue in the school chapel.

It’s a ritual that starts the weekly children’s rosary group, an effort begun in September by the Snohomish school’s administrative assistant, Suzi Dutro.

“It started when I had the desire to teach the children about the rosary,” said Dutro, whose two children attend St. Michael’s.

After getting permission from the school principal, Karen Matthews, and from St. Michael’s pastor, Father Milhton Scarpetta, Dutro created a flyer and sent it to parents of the school’s 114 students. Expecting maybe three or four children to participate, Dutro said she was pleased when nearly a dozen students in grades 2–5 showed up.

At the first gathering, Father Scarpetta blessed the children’s rosaries and consecrated the group to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Every week, five children are chosen to lead the introductory prayers for each decade of the rosary. Dutro reads a reflection about each mystery so the students have something to think about while praying. The students know the rosary well enough, Dutro said, that they don’t need prayer aids.

Rylee, a St. Michael’s second-grader, said she had prayed the rosary many times and wanted to join the group as soon as she heard about it. “I like praying the rosary and I love Mary,” Rylee said. “And I like praying together with everyone.”

Another student, fourth-grader Yara, said she enjoys praying the rosary because she likes to pray for others.

The students don’t just speak their prayers; each week they also sing “Rosary Children,” a song that Dutro said is part of a worldwide prayer movement. After the group sang the piece at the school Christmas program, two more students joined the rosary group, bringing the total to 15.

“God is working great things in this school,” Dutro said, noting she hadn’t expected the group to take off so quickly. “Our Lady is watching over us,” she added.

Start a rosary group

Other schools interested in learning how to start a children’s rosary group can call Suzi Dutro at 360-568-0821 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9 = 'schooladmin' + '@'; addy7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9 = addy7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9 + 'smpschool' + '.' + 'org'; var addy_text7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9 = 'email her';document.getElementById('cloak7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9').innerHTML += ''+addy_text7b69982c6b8cadc0e0a3b406488fabf9+''; .