Students to gather in prayer

By Sam Waller

The 32nd annual See You at the Pole prayer event will be held Wednesday, Sept. 28, at both Albany ISD campuses.

High school and junior high students will gather at 7:30 a.m. at the high school flag pole for a time of student-led prayer. Before the prayer time, the Feed Store will provide breakfast at 7:00 a.m. for all students in seventh through 12th grades at the front of the school.

Students will gather in the gym foyer in case of rain.

Also at 7:00 a.m., Nancy Smith Elementary students will be served breakfast at Albany Church of Christ. Following the meal, students from kindergarten through sixth grade will walk in groups with adult sponsors from the church to the elementary school for a 7:40 a.m. gathering at the flag pole.

The theme for the event this year is “Aflame” with participants encouraged to “never let the fire in your heart go out.”

See You at the Pole is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event that has spread nationwide at school flag poles before school on the fourth Wednesday of September.

“I think it’s a great national program, and we’re very blessed to able to do it in Albany,” Tisha Wilkins, director of the Feed Store, said. “We’ve always had great response from our students at both campuses, and we’re hoping for that again this year.”

At 7:00 p.m., a Saw You at the Pole rally for junior high and high school students will be held at the Feed Store.

“Over the last several years, we’ve done a youth rally that evening and bring a lot of schools together,” Friendship Baptist pastor and FCA leader Paul Johnston said. “We’ll have students from Throckmorton, Woodson, Breckenridge, Cisco, Moran, and of course Albany. We’ll have a band, speaker, and food.”