PRESS PHOTO BY JIM MARSH

After several successful years of "See You at the Pole" gatherings at the flagpole at Salisbury School District Middle School, the event fails this year to gather any student interest. "See You at the Pole" has been an annual gathering nationwide of Christian students of all ages at a flagpole in front of their local school for prayer, scripture-reading and hymn-singing during the early morning before school starts on every fourth Wednesday of September. The events began in 1990 in the United States, where public schools cannot sponsor prayers. It has grown by word of mouth, announcements at youth rallies and churches, and the Internet, and now occurs internationally. In 2005, over two million students in the U.S. participated in "See You at the Pole" gatherings. Susan Quigg, who retired in June after 36 years as an English teacher at Salisbury Middle School, had been an advocate for the "See You at the Pole" activities at the middle school for many years.