UNITED IN PRAYER: Students gather for See You at the Pole

Students across Holmes County gathered around school flagpoles September 25 for prayer, worship and fellowship as local schools participated in the annual See You at the Pole observance.

See You at the Pole is a student-initiated, student-organized and student-led Christian prayer movement in which young people gather, typically before the start of the school day, to pray for their classmates, teachers, schools, families, communities and nation. The observance traditionally takes place around the fourth Wednesday of September.  

The movement traces its roots to Burleson, Texas, in 1990, when a small group of teenagers attending a DiscipleNow weekend felt compelled to pray for their friends and schools. The students traveled to three area schools, gathering around the flagpoles to pray. Their actions helped inspire Texas youth leaders to organize a simultaneous day of student prayer at school flagpoles.  

The idea spread quickly. On September 12, 1990, more than 45,000 students on approximately 1,200 campuses in Texas and three other states participated in the first organized See You at the Pole observance. By the following year, organizers estimated that approximately 1 million students had gathered at flagpoles across the country. The movement subsequently expanded internationally.  

More than three decades later, the basic concept remains largely unchanged: students voluntarily gathering before school to pray together. Organizers describe the event as a global movement that includes students from elementary schools through colleges and universities.  

That tradition was visible in Holmes County as students at Bonifay K-8 School, Holmes County High School, Poplar Springs High School, Ponce De Leon High School, Ponce De Leon Elementary, Bethlehem High School, and Grace Fellowship Christian Academy gathered around their respective flagpoles.

The gatherings provided students an opportunity to begin their day together in prayer, continuing a tradition that began with a handful of Texas teenagers 36 years ago.