ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
THE STATION MANAGER at Spirit FM (103.7 and 90.3 FM) said more than 3,000 children from 60 area schools participated.
At first blush, it might not appear to make much sense for students at Roanoke Valley Christian Schools to bother to participate in a nationwide school-prayer event called "See You at the Pole."
After all, prayers for their school, teachers, churches and nation are not only allowed but encouraged for these students and led by their teachers - unlike their public-school counterparts.
Nevertheless, student leaders Allen Armstrong and Ben Ward said it was important for their classmates to conduct their own prayer event and to feel a sense of solidarity with millions of other students around the nation.
"Partnering with over 4 million other students to pray today believing God will hear us," is a great feeling, Ward said.
"Prayer will shake things up," said Armstrong, who quoted from the New Testament book of First John "that if we ask anything according to [God's] will, he hears us" and will answer those prayers.
"See You at the Pole" began in 1989 when a group of Dallas students gathered at their school's flagpole before classes one morning to pray for the new school year, their teachers and each other.
By the next year, the idea has spread to a number of other cities, and within two years it had become a national event with the backing of several Christian denominations, including a big boost from the Southern Baptist Convention.
Although the focus has been on prayers at public schools, students at religious schools, such as Roanoke Valley Christian, and home-schooled children have participated in the events, scheduled for the third Wednesday in September.
A national sponsoring organization based in California is monitoring the number of participants this year through the Internet and was predicting more than 4 million students would be involved.
Spirit FM (103.7 and 90.3 FM), a Christian station based in Roanoke, asked "See You at the Pole" participants to call in with the totals from their schools Wednesday morning. Station Manager Barry Armstrong said he heard from 60 schools in the Roanoke-Lynchburg and Western Virginia region reporting more than 3,000 participating students.
As many as 250 students were reported to have joined in prayer at William Byrd middle and high schools, and 100 or more were counted at several other schools, including Northside High, Northside Middle, Cave Spring High, Hidden Valley Junior High, Patrick Henry High and Salem High.
About 175 were on hand for prayers at Roanoke Valley Christian, most of them high school students. They broke up into small groups of five to 10, in which individuals took turns offering prayers.
They asked God to "bring revival in this school," "grant wisdom for our teachers," "not let me see religion as a boring thing," "give us strength to stand up for you," and they gave thanks for parents, teachers, friends, and "the privilege to do this in America."
Students then gathered in a circle around the pole for a brief prayer of thanks and sang the choruses of "I Love You, God" and "Our God is an Awesome God," as the U.S. and Virginia flags snapped in the morning breeze.
"I believe God was here with us in worship," Armstrong said.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Pupils from Roanoke Valley Christianby CNBSchools break down into small prayer groups at the flagpole
Wednesday morning while doing their part in the national program,
"See you at the Pole.'' color.