See You At The Pole

Students from different churches and backgrounds stood as one Wednesday morning during See You at the Pole for prayer, praise and testimony.

At just two schools, Permian High and Hood Junior High, roughly 170 students came to be as one around the flagpole as part of the national event held the fourth Wednesday in September.

"It's good we can come together and not be ashamed ... it is good to know you have friends with the same beliefs," Permian sophomore Aubrey Alvis said. Others agreed they enjoyed seeing students with something uniting them.

"It's a really cool thing because a lot of times you feel you aren't allowed to worship God in school," junior Steven Pipes said. "It is cool to see how many feel the same way as you."

Parent Lezlie Easley came with her daughters Jenna and Julia to Permian's See You at the Pole. She said she came to be personally refreshed while seeing all the students pray for the school. She noticed the same diversity pointed out by others.

"I think it is good that there are people of all walks of life - every sport, every club, every church. They are all coming together for God, and there is power in that," Easley said. This unity even moved speakers at the microphone.

"Too often we don't really love one another; even though I know less than half of you, I love you guys," said one young woman reading Ephesians 5:1: "Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children."

At Hood, Tammy Stallcup sponsored the student-led event. She said students practiced at lunch and two Saturdays in order to prepare for the singing and acting involved with that school's event.

"I had to keep sending them home because they worked so hard," Stallcup said. "We have never had it this much student-led before."

 An example of the work at Hood is a skit tied to the song ‘Everything' by Lifehouse. A student dressed in white representing Christ tries to pull apart a group of students picking on a young woman. But, he soon intervenes by shielding the girl from the blows of the crowd as she prays. He holds back the mob and gives her a white coat signifying becoming clean.

Ninth-grader Jino Jordan helped lead the Hood event, and to him, he said See You at the Pole is about sharing faith with others.

"I want everybody to know things that maybe they haven't known before. It's worth it if just one person changes their life," Jordan said.

This year's See You at the Pole theme was the Bible verse 1 Samuel 3:10, "Speak, for your servant is listening." At Permian, some see the event worth repeating more regularly.

"We need to keep doing this; I sometimes wished it happened more often," Alvis said.