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Sun Tlfllfiiv photos by Mary Redmond A.].V. {Red} Leader Others interested in Bruce board’s Morals and Values y MARY RBDMDND Sun Times staif' CHESLEY â€" Many public school boards who want to keep using The Lord's Prayer are now scrambling for other secular and religious sources to balance their opening exercises. .Sinoe education ministry regu. lotions changed id January. open- ing exercises can no longer give primacy to any one faith. But in Bruce County, a Morals and Values program with wideâ€" rangtng opening exercises and curriculum-related material has been in place in elementary schools since about 1980. Other Ontario boards have re- cently asked for the packages but earlier requests had already come â€"Jcam_laiaacds-.in_ulhoz_.p£dvlnces and even in the U.S., superinten- dant Don Carroll said recently. Grey County schools are al- ready using parts of the program. And 97 per cent of Bruce Coun- ty parents who completed a re- cent survey wanted Morals and Values to stay much as it is. The survey is part of a program review the Bruce board launched before the Ianuary changes to the Education Act. "We’re reacting to what's hap- pening in the midst of trying to update our own materials," re~ view committee member A.J.V. Leeder said recently. The former Wiarton Public School principal helped produce the original program, and he's come out of retirement to work on revising it. The committee‘s report and any new added material should be ready next spring The first law minutes of open ing exerctses are rust the most easily identified part of Morales and Values. Each unit studied by students in the regular curriculum in cludes a values component Leeds-r stresses that "values Education" has always happened in the classroom without being torn-tally written mm the curnctr [urn But about a tit-Lacie aan the-n- chairman of the Bruce board Lloyd Picker! Lil Lucknow was seized by tho idi‘d of creation a values education program He launched long. comprehen- iye rounds [ii meetings with bill- - dents, parents. teachers and cler- gy in 1978, ‘ "From one man‘s vision came a whole exercise in trying to mu- tually agree on what is impor- tant." Leader said. I The committee produced a list of tot) accepted topics for values discussion running alphabetically from adversity to zeal. and in~ eluding subjects like fault-finding and sharing. Those were used as the basis of opening ,exercise programs and the added curriculum material. About five to 10 per cent at readings that became part oi opening exercises came from oth- er faitbs including. for example, verses from The Koran. The exercises use Bible verses but also draw on sayings from famous people and proverbs .trom other cultures. And the daily stories are most often nonâ€"religious examinations of values at the level of the stu- dent: primery grades hear stories about animal characters while senior grades have more abstract readings. The program now contains three yearly cycles for kindergar- ten to grade 4 students and three more cycles for Grades 4 to B. The new committee will likely add extra cycles so no one would have to repeat and perhaps add some material especially for the middle grades. Leeder said. A 38-year veteran of the public education system. Lceder thinks of the time spent developing the program “as probably one of the most rewarding and meaningtul experiences of my career." "There's nothing more signifi- cant to people than their spiritual roots and their desire lor commu- nity." Leeder said And in 198!) the review com- mittee must continue to respect the strong Christian community in Bruce County, Leader said. "Our pathway takes us within the parameters of Ministry guide- lines and the deep desires oi our own people." Leader says it's essential that students in public schools are exposed to material addresstng common human values. "Then maybe society Will be in a position to survive against the things that would tear it apart such as bigotry and lack of under- standing."