It is an early Wednesday morning and as students are dropped off, they see a crowd of people singing hymns. Many get closer and join in, some stand and watch, and a few walked on by. By the time the event was in full swing, there was a large crowd gathered and participating.

See You at the Pole is an annual event that was held before school on September 25. This event, hosted by FCA, invited students and staff members to come gather around the flagpole pole by the back doors of the high school.

“This is the second year that I get to help host this wonderful event,” FCA sponsor Misty Houston said. “I personally think it was a successful event.”

This event began with FCA president Mollie Dittmar leading the first song, “You Say” by Lauren Daigle. She along with other members, who passed out sheets with the song lyrics.

“It was a really good experience,” Dittmar said. “I was proud that we had so many people show up and participate.”

Pastor Alan Grisham from First Baptist Church in Buffalo was the guest speaker for the second consecutive year. He began his lesson by asking everyone to grab a key from the basket he had.

“At first I was puzzled with the activity,” senior Andrea Daniel said. “But I just went ahead a grabbed a key like everyone else.”

Grisham continued on and asked everyone to look at their keys and compare them with the key of the people around them. Soon students began to realize that no key was the same. He explained that we are like keys: we are all different but have a purpose.

“The lesson behind the keys was beautiful,” junior Betsy Martinez said. “Most times we judge each other because of our differences. This made me realize that we are all special in our own way and have the same purpose.”

To end, everyone in attendance gathered in a circle, held hands and prayed down the circle. When it was their turn, each student could pray out loud or silently and then squeeze the next person’s hand.

“I was a little shy to pray out loud,” senior Jordan Early said. “I just prayed to myself and squeezed my sister Jazlynn’s hand so that she could go.”

When everything was over students had a choice of donuts and orange juice or apple juice to snack on as they headed back inside. The donuts were donated by FCA member Riley Ayres’ mom.

“The donuts were delicious,” sophomore Richard Renteria said. “I do not know where they were brought from but they were amazing.”