1,200 Attend Sex-study Review

Nearly every seat in the Pioneer High School auditorium was filled last night as about 1,200 persons attended a marathon six-hour review of the Ann Arbor School District's controversial Family Living and Sex Education program. All movies, film strips, charts, photographs and other materials used in grades kindergarten, one and five in 11 elementary schools were shown. Only a handful of persons, incIudmchoolTrustee Charles H. Good, remained until 1 a.m., when the program was finally completed. The presentation appeared to be very well received. Mrs. Gloyce Forner, a first-grade teacher of the program at Dicken School, received a large round of applause for her presentation of the program, despite constant difficulties with the audio-visual materials. Petitions opposing the program were circulated by Citizens Organized for Decency in Education (CODE) and the Chritsian Crusade of Tulsa. Okla., but there didn't appear to be a large number of takers. The local CODE group has been circulating the same petitions, asking the Board of Education for the "permanent removal" of the "new" sex education program from all grades, for several weeks now. Last week, the group claimed 1,100 signatures. The large crowd was orderly. There was no heckling or outbursts from those in opposition to the program, such as characterized a meeting at Tappan Junior High several weeks ago. The majority of people ranrrrr-j- - - - , , domly sampled by The News said they approved of the program as shown last night. One man said he had come to criticize, but ended up being favorably impressed. Some citizens had negative comments, however. One woman said she opposed the program because no morality is taught with it, while another father charged the schools kept "sneaking in" more films and slides than were being shown last night. (School officials denied this, saying all materials used this y e a r in the 11 elementary schools were presented last night.) Dr. Sam M. Sniderman, assistant superintendent ior instruction in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, told the audience the program will be evaluated by the Office of Instruction in a number of ways: - A panel of experts from related fields attended last night's presentation and will give their reactions to the administrative staff ; -The Office of Instruction will consult with teachers and administrators who have conducted the program this year; -The Office of Research will survey the 2,600 parents of all students involved in the program this year and last year. - A review of the reaction of parents at the various information meetings held in the elementary schools where the program was conducted this year will be obtained, and -"Reaction sheets" given to each member of the audience last night, which asked for comments on the program, will be processed by the schools. A bulletin which lists the most commonly asked questions about the program, along with the replies, also will be made available to the public as soon as it is completed, Sniderman said, hopefully within a week. School Board President Joseph R. Julin said this morning he expects a decisión on whether to continue the Family Living and Sex Education program will be made by the board soon, perhaps within a week or two. Julin also commented He thought last night's program was "extremely well aecepted." The six-hour program consisted of a discussion on "Preparation and Planning" of the teachers by Mrs. Rachel Schreiber, acting director of elementary education, and presentations of the various programs by Mrs. Helen Keen, kindergarten teacher at Haisley School; Mrs. Forner; Ronald Pudduck, fifth-grade teacher at Lakewood School, and Mrs. Judy Stipe, a school nurse. Mrs. Forner told the audience she has the "definite impression" most parents of her students approve of the firstgrade program at Dicken. She said only one parent requested his child be removed from the program this year, while there were no such requests last year. Pudduck told the crowd his fifth graders in the past have liked the program. "Why do parents think sex is such a hush-hush thing?" one of his students asked. "We kids have been talking about it for years, and we were all wrong," another revealed. A third told Pudduck, "I try to ask my parents about sex, but they say, 'Later.' " Kindergarteners' studies in the program include: living in a school group (including friendliness, courtesy and manners, helping and sharing); being- ourselves (what is being a boy and a girl?); safety (at home, in school, to and from school), and families. This latter subject includes "What is a family?" and "Family First graders learn about: animal babies; human babies (how babies are formed, where babies come from, how they are similar to and different from animal babies, and physical characteristics of human babies); families, and a baby comes into the family (how the family prepares for a new baby, understanding our feelings about the new baby, doing our part). Fifth graders study: animal growth structure, classification and reproduction, and human reproduction and physiology (male and female anatomy, physical changes at puberty, and reproduction). Reproduction includes "becoming a woman; becoming a man; mating, conception, development and birth; heredity, and abnormal birth patterns."