LOVELOCK - A few local students got up early Oct. 3 to meet at the flag pole on the Pershing County High School campus to pray for their schools, teachers, classmates and country.
The group of 10 students from PCHS and middle school sang songs and prayed, then enjoyed a donut before leaving for class.
"I didn't know about it ahead of time, but I was very glad to go pray," PCMS seventh grader Abby Kaptain said.
One of the organizers of the prayer time, PCHS senior Victoria Mapson, said she was pleased with the turnout of students.
"It was pretty cool. It strengthens your faith to see other students standing for the same thing that you stand for," Mapson said in a later interview.
"It's a good opportunity for kids who don't know Jesus to find out about his love and forgiveness," Kaptain said.
Mapson got the idea from the See You at the Pole national movement, she said.
The See You at the Pole (SYATP) movement started in 1990, according to the group's website www.syatp.com with 10 students in Texas praying for their school and classmates at the school's flagpole. Twenty-two years later, SYATP reports a yearly participation of more than three million students worldwide, with students in over 20 countries taking part in the event.
The prayer event is traditionally held the third Wednesday of September, the website says. Mapson said that scheduling conflicts made the Oct. 3 date work better for her and others helping to organize the event.
Mapson won't be here to organize another event next year, but said she would like to attend or organize the event at her college next year.
Kaptain said that she would like to attend the event next year and has a friend who would also like to attend.
SYATP is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event, so it remains to be seen if it will continue next year.
The event is not without controversy. During the first few years, concerns arose as to the constitutionality of the event on school property. In 1995, the United States Department of Education issued guidelines as to what types of religious events should be permitted on public school grounds. The SYATP event was one specifically mentioned in the guidelines as constitutionally permitted, according to the Liberty Counsel, a nationwide public interest religious civil liberties law firm.
Lovelock attorney Todd Plimpton confirmed that prayer is protected by the First Amendment as a form of free speech.
When asked if it was legal to do it on school property, he replied, "I have no idea."
According to the Liberty Counsel website, "Students do not lose the right to speak or pray simply because they enter the public school campus. Students may pray around a flagpole or on other public school grounds during noninstructional time. Schools may not prohibit students from praying in this manner."
The reasoning given by Liberty Counsel and the SYATP websites was that the event is student initiated, student-organized and student-led.
According to the Liberty Counsel, religious events become unconstitutional when initiated and/or organized by a government entity such as a school district or those in authority within that school district.
An email sent to the PCHS principal for comment was not returned by press time.
Mapson said that she received no opposition from school officials or classmates while promoting or after the event.
"The most people wanted to know afterward was if we had any donuts left," she said.
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