“My name is Daniel,” says a little boy, standing tall next to his desk.

The rest of the class says, “Hi, Daniel!” and applauds.

Daniel is a kindergarten student at Fox Trail Elementary School in Davie. The rest of his classmates continue with the exercise, standing up one by one and announcing their names. It’s the first step in creating debaters, teaching them the basics of speaking up.

“With the pre-K, K, and one, I’m just trying to get them used to public speaking, saying their name, colors, singing songs, speaking in front of each other,” said Joyce Van Loan, the school’s debate teacher.

As the kids get older, the teaching objectives have to keep pace.

“How to construct a good argument, to prepare a good argument, to express themselves confidently and appropriately, yes, that is the goal,” Van Loan said.

Broward County Public Schools says it has the most extensive debate programs in the nation. Every high school and middle school has debate classes and teams, and now debate is moving into elementary schools. At Fox Trail, all 1,200 students have debate as part of the curriculum, and some join the school’s team.

To read more, and watch a video about Fox Trail’s debate program, please click here.