This morning at Fork Union Military Academy, dozens of cadets, joined by Academy Chaplain James Benson and a number of faculty and staff members, gathered at the school's central flagpole in Fraley Circle immediately following their morning formation for a few moments of prayer before beginning their school day. The gathering was to participate and show support for See You at the Pole 2016, a national student-initiated movement that began over twenty-five years ago in the Ft. Worth suburb of Burleson, Texas.
In 1990, a group of students in Burleson, Texas gathered around their school's flagpole to pray for their school, their leaders, their families, and their friends. The story of this small prayer meeting spread, and other students were inspired to hold similar prayer gatherings at their schools. The vision was that students throughout Texas would meet at their flagpoles and pray simultaneously. The challenge became known as "See You at the Pole" and students began to spread the word to other schools. On September 12, 1990, more than 45,000 teenagers in four different states met at their flagpoles to pray before the start of school. The next year, more than a million students across the country gathered simultaneously around their flagpoles on September 11, 1991. The movement has grown larger each year, as more and more students have gathered together on a September morning, usually now the fourth Wednesday of September, to help bring a moral and spiritual awakening to their campuses and communities.
This year marks the 26th anniversary of that first gathering, and so many Fork Union cadets showed up this morning that they divided into several separate groups to engage in a few moments of prayer together before the start of the class day.