FERRIDAY — For the last week, the 43 second graders at Ferriday Lower Elementary have been preparing to take the Christmas spirit to the stage.

The seriousness of the matter has not escaped Mikala Allen, 7, who wanted to make sure she does everything in her solo perfectly.

“I’ll be singing my song in my room,” she said.

Allen isn’t alone in her excitement.

“(The students) are excited,” second grade teacher Lynda Williams said. “I think more than I am.”

The setting of the show is Christmas Eve, and a snowstorm has buried Santa’s sleigh with him in it. The elves — as portrayed by the students — have to dig out the sleigh to free Santa and guarantee the delivery of toys to the children of the world.

When the students practiced Wednesday, some timidly said their lines, while others approached the microphone with confidence — some so confident, in fact, that they practically yelled into the microphone.

Seven-year-old Micayla Davis said she likes to be on the stage with everyone watching her, and while other students pantomimed digging in the snow, she belted out her solo.

“Digging hard, digging fast, we will save the day,” she crooned.

Jamal Turner, 8, said he was excited about his stage debut for the same reasons as Davis.

“I like to sing in front of the people,” he said.

La’Kambre Williams, 7, said she was most excited about the solo she would sing — a song about building toys in Santa’s workshop — in the program, and it has given her dreams of pulling double duty as a singing actress.

“I want to be in movies like on BET,” she said.

The students will have a performance early in the day for their parents, and will perform it for the school later in the morning.