Students gather to pray at Concord High

Christian groups nationwide mark 'See You at the Pole'

Alison Kepner, The News Journal, (Wilmington, Delaware), September 27, 2007

The sun was rising Wednesday morning when the first two students arrived at Concord High School's flagpole to pray.

As more students gathered, tossing their book bags by the door or under a nearby tree, their small circle expanded. By 7:30 a.m., just before the group broke from 30 minutes of praise and prayer, 40 students and teachers stood, heads bowed, on the small lawn.

"I really like seeing who is a Christian at my school and talking to them and showing my faith to everyone who walks into the building, so they know that I believe in God," sophomore Kelsie Jones said.

The Concord students were among a projected 2 million across the country who assembled before classes Wednesday for the annual Christian "See You at the Pole" morning of prayer. The student-initiated movement started in the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson, Texas, in 1990. Students -- sometimes joined by teachers, administrators, parents and community members -- pray for their leaders, schools and families, asking God to bring moral and spiritual awakening to their campuses and nation.

For the Concord High students, it is an opportunity to be public about their faith in front of classmates who may not share their beliefs. As with students of other religions attending secular schools, that isn't always easy when the values of their faith conflict with what their peers deem "cool."

"My first year, it was tough," junior Katrice Brown said.

But now she doesn't worry about the quizzical looks of passers-by or being nervous praying aloud in front of such a large group.

"It's a good thing to pray for the school and have protection with all the school shootings and stuff," she said.

Junior Chris Heider appreciates the teachers who join the students in prayer: "It gave me confidence that with all the things taught in school about like evolution and stuff that you don't think are very 'Christianized' ... to see teachers believe what you believe."

The 2003 National Survey of Children's Health reported more than half of Delaware children attend religious services regularly. According to the survey, an estimated 51 percent attend at least once a week and 17 percent go at least once a month. Another 8 percent attend at least annually with the remaining 24 percent never attending.

While religious students may see peers in the pews at weekend services, that doesn't necessarily mean those classmates always adhere to the same beliefs the rest of the week, especially when faced with invitations to drinking parties or dates with sexually active classmates.

"Honestly, it's there, but you choose not to participate in those pressures," senior Christine Young said. "You hang out with other people who don't do it."

Jones, too, avoids those functions where she suspects drugs or alcohol could be part of the mix.

"I have friends who don't have my values, but I don't hang out with them outside of school," she said.

For Muslim students, now is a time when they may find themselves explaining their faith at school. During the monthlong Ramadan holiday, they cannot eat or drink during daylight hours.

That means sitting idly as their friends eat chicken nuggets in the cafeteria or running drills at soccer practice without water bottles to quench their thirst.

"They accept it, and at the same time they question me," Amanda Tourk, a seventh-grader at Gunning Bedford Middle School, said of her friends.

"It's annoying sometimes, but it's the same questions every time and the same answers," said brother Nabil, a sophomore at William Penn High School.

Missing lunch doesn't bother the siblings, who rise before dawn to eat a large, carbohydrate-laden meal before school, but gym classes and sports practices are tough.

"I get really thirsty," Amanda said.

The Tourks would rather people ask them questions, though, than make assumptions or believe stereotypes.

"When something in the real world happens, like a plane crashes, and they automatically blame Muslims, it makes me mad," Amanda said. "People are like, 'It was you and you are a bad person.' "

Her brother agreed, "They automatically think the people are Muslims. I just try to ignore it."

For some students, devotion to their faith also can mean missing school activities and work. While schools are closed on major Christian holidays, students of other religions must take excused absences to celebrate their holy days.

Jillian Lipman, a sophomore at Brandywine High School, missed two days earlier this month for the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.

Teachers issued the same amount of homework as on normal days, and one gave a quiz. While Lipman was allowed to make up the work, it frustrated her that others don't recognize the importance of the holiday.

"If school was open all year round, teachers wouldn't put a test on Christmas," she said.

Like the Tourks, Lipman often gets questions from friends and classmates who don't know a lot about Judaism, whether it is during a history class discussion comparing a Mayan story with the Adam and Eve creation account or lunchroom curiosity about how Jews celebrate Passover.

"A lot of my friends are really interested in it," she said.

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