Locals are invited to Nansemond River High School on Saturday to pray for the school and its students and teachers.

Circle of Solidarity, a new organization that holds one school prayer event per month, will conduct the event at 9 a.m., founder Nycholle Gater said.

“Prayer vigils are usually held oftentimes after a tragedy,” Gater said. “If we believe in the power of prayer, that same protection can go before a tragedy. The reason we do this is because we don’t want anything to happen.”

The organization began in August and has been doing one prayer event per month. It has covered Smithfield High, King’s Fork High and Elephant’s Fork Elementary schools in prayer.

“Our mission statement is really to unite the community,” Gater said. “Oftentimes, I think families get so busy that we tend to ignore some of the obvious.”

Gater said the event is about praying for the students and teachers, not criticizing anyone. Pastors lead the event, and specific areas of prayer include bullying, protection for students and teachers and that students would avoid pitfalls like promiscuity.

“It’s just a way of uniting and getting the focus back to the kids,” Gater said. “It’s an avenue to pray and genuinely show the love of the Lord to the children.”

The event also will provide literature and resources on issues of concern to students and parents, Gater said. Nansemond River students and staff are especially welcomed at the event, she said.

“It’s great for us to pray, but we need the faculty and the staff and the students to be there as well,” she said.

Gater’s children are grown and didn’t attend Nansemond River, but she said she feels responsibility to pray for all children.

“I don’t have a child that goes to Nansemond River, but these are the children that are going to be my future,” she said. “I feel like every child at every school that I pray for is my spiritual child.”

For more information, visit www.meetup.com/circle-of-solidarity.