Mary I. Schmal is an English teacher, having taught Kindergarten through College age in five different states. Her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in education have equipped her over the years to do what she loves: inspire in her students a love to learn and create.
Being listed as a Michigan workshop presenter in the Speakers Bureau of Master Teachers, compiled by the Professional Development Committee of the Michigan Reading Association (MRA), gave Mary an opportunity to work with educators who also desired to inspire creativity and passion through excellence in teaching creative writing.
In her endeavor to inspire students to reach their potential, Mary designed, wrote and produced a two-year creative writing curriculum, Rainbow Class and Pot of Gold for middle grades, an age typically where creativity becomes stifled. Click HERE to go to the Rainbow Creative Writing web site.
For two years Mary served as a writer for the ChristLight Religion Curriculum (Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, WI), writing much of the 5th and 6th grade level materials. She was later privileged to teach what she wrote and to observe how God’s Word touched the lives of her young students to grow spiritually.
Mary's high school writing students have received top awards in national writing contests and in 2007 she was recognized with the award, “Excellence in Teaching Creative Writing” from Silver Lake College (Manitowoc, WI). In her capacity as adjunct teacher of writing at Wisconsin Lutheran College (Milwaukee, WI), Mary was an acknowledged editing contributor for the popular college textbook,The Bedford Reader, 12th edition (Bedford/St. Martin’s 2014).
All of Mary’s experiences have been directed toward a common goal: to stimulate motivation for her students to realize their God-given potential in becoming the unique children of God that he created them to be. And now as author of the Children of the Light series, Mary hopes to inspire readers to acknowledge and embrace, as do her characters, all nine Fruit of the Spirit. Nine kids. Nine gifts. Nine blessed.
Mary hopes that her books in this series will create a desire to dig deeply into God’s Word. Her prayer is that readers are blessed early on by understanding how, by His grace, God freely grants believers the Fruit of the Spirit: a desire to love, to attain joy and peace, to demonstrate greater patience and gentleness, to be good and kind, to maintain a level of self-control, and by all means to embrace faith in the Savior Jesus Christ. To this end, she wishes all glory and honor be given to the Creator, the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mary's desire is that His perfect will be done in the lives of all readers and that they see in all circumstances how His ways are always best.
When Mary isn’t teaching, reading, or writing, she enjoys singing, performing in or attending the theatre, visiting lighthouses, studying astronomy, and most of all, enjoying family and friends. She also enjoys spending time in Door County, Wisconsin. Door County is home to a number of lighthouses and was inspirational in the creation of the Children of the Light series. Mary is married to her husband Dan, and they have two married children. Her three grandchildren light up her life. She also writes for these young girls so that they, too, can find inspiration to be everything God has created them to be.
