Millions of public school students can begin their day with an opening prayer in the classroom. Shocking, isn't it? It's called a moment of silence, and 34 states allow it (and some mandate it).

Gateways to Better Education is now encouraging and equipping students to ACTUALLY PRAY during that moment of silence. We've created a School Prayer Card that students can keep in their pockets or notebooks. During the moment of silence, they can pull out the prayer card and silently pray the prayer.

You can download the School Prayer Card for free at the link above.

We came up with this idea in response to the recent news that a court in Rhode Island ordered a school to remove a prayer banner that had been posted at a local school since 1963. The court order was in response to a lawsuit filed by atheist student Jessica Ahlquist. In a recent blog post, I recommended that students write the words of the prayer on a card and silently read the words every morning during Rhode Island's mandatory moment of silence.

Today's launch of our School Prayer Card comes just days before an atheist rally this Saturday in Washington, D.C., where Jessica Ahlquist will be a featured speaker.

Imagine millions of students silently reading the prayer on our School Prayer Card this Friday morning in class (and every morning for the rest of the school year)! The court in Rhode Island may have removed a dusty old banner that no one read, but the result will be that every morning millions of students in 34 states will pray the prayer that was on that banner.

Vist our School Prayer Card webpage to find out if YOUR STATE mandates a moment of silence and what to do if your school doesn't observe it.

(Eric Buehrer is the president of Gateways to Better Education and an occasional blogger at the BreakPoint Blog.)