A sixth-grade student at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Boise had a surprising prediction come true when she randomly selected the cardinal who would become the next pope.

"They were like, he's the pope, he's the pope, and they screamed it down the halls, and we were, like, 'Yay he got elected,' and I was like, 'That's my guy, that's my guy.'"

Olivia Fisher and her classmates were given an assignment to pick a cardinal at random who might become the next pope. Her selection, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, made her the only student to correctly predict the historic choice.

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"I got who is now the pope, and we had to do it on this bag," Olivia said.

The assignment required students to research their selected cardinal and create a portrait with facts about them. Fisher included details about the new pope in her drawing.

"He was born September 19th, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois," Olivia said.

Pope Leo XIV is the first American pope, a fact that excited Fisher and many others.

"It's cool because we're from the U.S. and I think it's cool to know that he knows where we are, and that he could probably speak American too," Fisher said.

As part of the project, the class made red zucchettos, the small, red skullcaps worn by cardinals. Fisher's drawing featured a white one, reserved for the pope – perhaps a sign of her lucky prediction.

Fisher's research highlighted qualities she believes are important for a successful pope, including "prudence, leadership, pastor, experience, intellectual, diplomacy, humility, compassion and mercy."

Her extensive research has paid off, giving her knowledge about the new pope and excitement to learn even more.

This article was written by Jessica Davis for the Scripps News Group in Boise.

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