Miami, USA - After-school activity swirled around Flanagan High School's courtyard as football players jogged down a hallway, cheerleaders jumped in sync and cadets marched in formation.
In the middle of it all, 18-year-old senior Kyle Jones stood under a pavilion at the Pembroke Pines school, clutching the Bible he brings most every day, the book he thumbed through and quoted from at this meeting of a club called First Priority.
'His word has a purpose and it's not just to say, `Hey, because you're a Christian you can't have a fun time,' '' he told a group of about a dozen students at a recent meeting. ``Rules are not there to harm us but to help us.''
After years of arguments, court battles, appeals and final rulings, Christian clubs like the one Jones leads are no longer considered taboo on public school campuses. In fact, they are thriving nationwide and locally, with an estimated 80 in South Florida -- and more on the way.
And Wednesday morning, hundreds of students in South Florida and likely millions around the world gathered around flagpoles to pray at the annual See You at the Pole event.
Students with strong religious beliefs say they embrace the opportunity to bring their faith to school.
''I think people are surprised because everybody thinks church is: You dress up real nice and go on Sunday morning and listen to some guy talk for hours,'' said Marshall Horton, 12, a student leader at the club at Sawgrass Springs Middle in Coral Springs. ``I think it's really more than that.''
Olivia Valera, 16, a junior at Taravella High School in Coral Springs, said the club lets her connect with like-minded peers who understand the difficulties she faces. ''They were other Christians who knew how hard it was to be in a public school and be bold in your faith,'' she said.
For the most part, students' efforts go unchallenged.
A 1984 law, the Equal Access Act, requires that if schools allow any student-initiated club to meet when class isn't in session, they must open the door for all groups. They must be voluntary, student-led and follow district club rules.
''The rule of thumb on it is to treat all of the student-led, student-initiated clubs the same way: a level playing field,'' said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the national Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center. 'If you allow the chess club to make its announcements in the morning, you can't say to the Bible club, `You can't make your announcements.' ''
Since the law was passed, and subsequent court rulings upheld it, such clubs have blossomed.
FIRST PRIORITY
In Broward and Palm Beach counties, the most prevalent clubs are members of First Priority, a national organization with a South Florida chapter that is supported by dozens of local churches.
Chris Lane, executive director of First Priority South Florida, said just a handful of clubs existed nine years ago. Now there are 80 active chapters in Broward and Palm Beach County middle and high schools, and efforts are under way to expand to Miami-Dade.
Many other religious student organizations are on Miami-Dade school campuses, including Jewish, Muslim and Christian groups, said district spokesman John Schuster.
First Priority South Florida supports school clubs, Lane said, helping them get established or making the law clear if students meet resistance. They also have club consultants who visit schools and meet with student leaders, and students are allowed to invite guests -- youth pastors, for example -- to speak.
''We know that school is a place where kids are getting educated, and that's a priority,'' Lane said. ``We don't want to take away from that. We want to be a positive and encouraging group on the campus.''
Broward Schools Superintendent Frank Till -- who is active in his own church -- commended the clubs for doing a good job of balancing church and state.
''They're a club that has really figured out how to survive and show that schools and churches can coexist when the rules are followed properly,'' he said.
Still, some parents have been taken aback by what seems to them an uncomfortably close link between school and religion. At Westglades Middle School in Parkland, some were surprised that the website's home page included a link to the school's First Priority club. The link has since been changed to the main South Florida site and moved to the school website's activities page.
''Although I'm comfortable with any kind of a club using our public school facilities before or after school hours, I was disappointed to find out that active promotion of any religious organization could take place on the premises over the P.A. and through our school website,'' said Margot Lazar, mother of a Westglades student.
Her concern is that notices about religious clubs would be viewed as promotion on the part of the school instead of straightforward information. ''I think all of us are still having a problem understanding exactly how this is a separation of church and state,'' Lazar said.
SCHOOL MEDIA
But the law says all groups must have access to school media, whether it's the public address system or bulletin board or website.
''There's definitely the side that doesn't understand it, whether they're just uninformed or misinformed or they don't like it,'' First Priority's Lane said. ``Sometimes that's an obstacle or a hurdle to overcome. That's where we come in to explain the law.''
As Sara Sherman, a 12-year-old leader in her Sawgrass Springs club, put it: ``This is a public school and you should be able to do what you want.''
She noted that other religious groups are free to form their own clubs if they desire.
Sawgrass Springs seventh-grade science teacher Jan Fumosa is her school club's faculty sponsor. She said First Priority, which meets in her classroom, provides a safe venue for the students to talk about their faith.
''It's a comfortable place for these kids because some of them are involved in their churches and when they come to school, they sometimes get made fun of,'' she said.
Kyle Jones, president of Flanagan's First Priority, said the only teasing he remembers was in ninth grade.
'Some kid made fun of me. He called me `Preacher Boy.' I was like, whatever. It's a good nickname to have.''