An elementary school student is celebrating a sweet victory for faith.
As Fox News first reported, Laura, a fifth grader from Washington state wanted to start an interfaith prayer club at her school. However, the request was denied by her principal. Laura decided to fight back with the assistance of First Liberty Institute. Now, she is seeing the sweetness of victory as the decision was overturned, allowing Laura to begin the interfaith prayer club.
First Liberty Institute reached out to the school on Laura’s behalf. The school said if they found a sponsor for the club, they would allow it.
First Liberty’s email to Creekside Elementary said:
By singling out a religious club and providing it inferior access to school resources than what it provides to other noncurricular groups, the District shows a hostility to religion that violates the Free Exercise Clause.
“We are not surprised because the law is very clear on this issue,” Kayla Toney, a representative for First Liberty said in an interview with Fox. “The first amendment absolutely protects Laura’s ability to pray with her friends. There’s a long history and tradition in this country of voluntary, student-led prayer.”
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“Prayer has an important place in public schools, and so we’re very glad that the school district decided to do the right thing here,” Toney continued.
Laura’s prayer club is slated to begin next week. She says interested students have already approached her about the club. Her plan for the group is to complete community service projects and spend time praying with one another.
“It was just a great lesson to learn that even an 11-year-old girl can make a big difference,” Laura said. “Some people may think that, ‘Oh, I won’t make a difference,’ but I’ve just learned that anyone can make a difference.”
Previously, Laura and her mother had a meeting with Creekside’s principal in February. They were allegedly told that all funding for clubs was determined back in October making the prayer club ineligible. The principal, Amy Allison, then told Laura and her mother they could pay to use the school like other outside groups if they wanted to start the club.
However, a week prior to this meeting, a pride club was launched and promoted by the school’s teachers. These occurrences led to First Liberty jumping in and taking action on behalf of Laura.
Laura’s struggle and victory is a reminder that God will always go before us no matter what we are facing.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.