By: Tara Blue
Students from Southern Boone Middle and High School gathered at their flag poles on the morning of Wednesday, Sep. 25th to pray together for See You At The Pole™ National Day of Student Prayer. Students, local pastors, and other members of the community showed up strong to share a mutual prayer for the school year.

To attendees, the annual event may have invoked more emotions than usual as four Southern Boone students have been recently arrested; three for Making a Terrorist Threat, and one for assault in the fourth degree.

A parent voiced concerns at the Sep. 24th school board meeting that a middle school staff member advised a Christian student to not wear anything religious in order to avoid being a target to potential threats. The parent told the board that “no child in public school should be told to hide their Christian beliefs.”

Southern Boone Schools Public Relations Director Matt Sharp says the district “does not have any policies that prevent students from wearing clothing or apparel related to their religious beliefs,” and Chief Young of the APD says he hadn’t heard of this claim at this point in their investigation.

See You At The Pole™ began in 1990 and is a global day of student prayer. According to SYATP website, the day “is simply a prayer rally where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school, and nation to God. SYATP is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event.”