Students gathered with their heads bowed around the school flagpole to observe See You At the Pole (SYATP) on Sept. 26. The worldwide event is a day designed for students to meet at the front of their school for prayer, scripture readings, and worship before the school day begins.

Choir teacher Christina Contreras and senior Jackson Contreras led about 40 students in singing hymns on the chilly Wednesday morning.  

Worship leader Jackson Contreras said, “I love that See You At the Pole provides a student-led atmosphere where they can profess their faith and surround themselves with likeminded people.”

SYATP’s theme this year was “Broken.” The theme verse, Ephesians 3:14, says, “I fall on my knees before the Father.” Prayer topics were introduced to the whole group, then students broke up into groups of about three or four to pray for each subject. Students offered up prayer for the nation and government, the school officials and administration, and their individual needs.

One of the leaders of the event, Spencer Renfroe (20), said, “I thought this year was very successful because we had a lot of students come out and the worship was great.”

SYATP was founded in 1990 and began as a small movement with only ten participants n a Texas school. Today, the movement is observed around the world by millions of students.

Brianna Everhart (20) attended her first SYATP event at the high school on Sept. 26. Everhart said, “I liked how open we could be with one another, it was such a friendly environment.”

Eaton Middle School also hosted SYATP and had over 60 students in attendance. Everet Slaughenhaupt (20) led worship. Slaughenhaupt said, “The turn-out for the event was great, it was a blessing to see so many kids come out.”

Slaughenhaupt and Renfroe belong to the E-Free X-Stream Youth Group. According to Youth Pastor Jason Newby, the X-Stream Youth Group is home to students that helped to host SYATP events in six different schools.