For Biola junior Ariel Okamoto, this morning was a flashback – she woke up early and drove to Esperanza High School to pray around the flagpole with members of the Christian Club.

But this time around, she came to See You at the Pole as a college student and member of the California School Project (CSP), a Biola ministry dedicated to mentoring and encouraging Christians at public high school campuses.

“I see God continue to work,” said Okamoto, an Esperanza alum and former member of the Christian club. “I see how faithful God is, and it’s neat to see him continuing [to work at the school].”

See You at the Pole (SYATP) is a national event that takes place annually on school campuses on the last Wednesday of September. According to the SYATP Web site, about 2 million students participated in the 2006 event, gathering around their respective flagpoles to pray for their schools.

This morning, an estimated 50 Biola students fanned out to a handful of local high schools, praying alongside current students. Earlier this week, CSP manned a booth outside the Café and enlisted Biolans to pray.

Amanda Turner, a Biola senior, also joined Esperanza High students at the early-morning prayer time. She recalls attending the event as a high school student and said it was “cool to go to See You at the Pole and encourage them.”

“High school is a really rotten time for a lot of us,” she said.

Esperanza High enrolls about 3,000 students, but just five circled the flagpole before their morning classes, in addition to five Biola students and a local youth pastor. Two Christian club leaders who were present prayed that more students might attend their campus Bible study.

The request, Okamoto said, is one that has surfaced at the school throughout the years.

“Unity has been a prayer over the years,” she said. “So many at Esperanza are Christians, and we’re praying for God to spark a revival among the Christians.”

Challenges at public high school are numerous – Christian clubs are often haphazardly organized, school regulations can hamper student-planned events, and peer pressure often discourages Christian students from vocalizing their faith.

That’s why Biola sophomore Jolene Nolte said she plans on praying for students at Esperanza even after SYATP day is over. Her main request, she said, is that students will have victory over fear.

“For me in high school, it was hard to get past that paralyzing fear,” she said. “I’m praying for them to know what it means to be children of God.”