With the beginning of the new year for Cullman County Schools only days away, friends of the West Point school community gathered Saturday to continue an old tradition; one perhaps more vital than ever for the school’s faith-minded supporters in this year of uncertainty. 

Meeting near the school in the parking lot out front of West Point Family Medical, more than two dozens students, parents, school staff, and others came together for a moment of prayer. Led by local evangelist and Enon Baptist Church member Brent Garrett, friends formed a circle around teachers and staff as Garrett asked for a safe and productive school year.

The tradition goes back at least as far as the 1990s, when former coach and West Point principal Billy Coleman began the annual prayer — at the time, a large hand-holding event that would encircle the entire school. 

Organizer and West Point mom Trinity Roggensack said attendance in recent years has varied. This year’s rally moved off-campus in part as a liability precaution amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and, though brief, provided an emotional and earnest moment of shared faith that the new school year, despite its unknowns, would be guided by a power far greater than illness or social tumult. 

Both Cullman County and City schools will welcome students back to campus on Thursday, Aug. 20, with newly-instituted measures in place to mitigate the potential spread of coronavirus. Follow each school system on social media (linked above) for real-time updates as next week’s opening date approaches.