Students gather at the flagpole for prayer before school
By SEAN HANEY
Cove Leader-Press
On Wednesday morning, students and staff and youth ministers from First Baptist Church gathered in front of Copperas Cove High School for their annual See You at the Pole event.
This event was first held on Sept. 12, 1990, in Burleson, Texas by a group of teenagers.
The hour-long event takes place right before classes start and it is for students and staff to pray at the campus flagpole for fellow students and staff members, their school, and the leaders. The entire event is student led.
“I want to support our kids,” said Head Varsity Football Coach Tony Johnson about the event on Wednesday morning. “I want to let them know that their teachers and their coaches who are like minded, they can share that moment together. To me, that’s important because I am a faith-based guy. It doesn’t make me perfect. It’s just great to see kids being able to witness and talk about their faith, to have a moment together to express their faith. It’s a completely volunteer moment for the kids and it’s a complete volunteer moment for the adults.”
“Personally, I believe prayer is important for both the nation and the school,” said sophomore Jaden Zukaitis. “I am Christian, and I think, especially now, in this generation it’s really vital that we have prayer.”
This was Zukaitis first time attending this gathering but will not be his last time as he was very proud to be one of the first students at the gathering on Wednesday morning.
At the end of the gathering Zukaitis said, “I think it’s something that’s really needed in today’s world. especially in these classes. I pray that God works in the hearts of the students here and that revival would happen.”
Peter Simpson is a youth minister at First Baptist Church and talked about his involvement in this each year since 2014.
“(This is) to remind kids it’s important to pray for your school and your community. Also, to be concerned about the people around you and know that there are people who have needs all day, every day is what matters the most,” said Simpson. “There weren’t a lot of people who came out to the event, but size isn’t what matters, as long as the word is put out there so kids know it’s going on. It’s always good to see the faithful come out and get together and recognize fellow Christians in their school.”
When everybody left, Simpson and Johnson had the following to say about the event.
“We missed everybody who didn’t make it out here today. We hope they come out next year because it is good to know the other people that are Christians that go to school with you, that you can stand beside and be unified with. So that’s one of the good things about it every year is you can recognize those people around you.” Simpson said.
“Everything I do is based off the assurance that I have a relationship with God and it’s a great witnessing tool to our kids that are dealing with a lot, and there is a higher power that can help you,” Johnson said.