Yecke and four members of the two committees that wrote the proposed science and social studies standards then took two hours of comments from 18 speakers who were among more than 100 people at the Willmar Education and Arts Center auditorium.

About the same number of people who spoke against the standards spoke in favor. Those who opposed the social studies standards said the standards were too detailed or were not developmentally appropriate for younger students. Those who spoke in favor said they appreciated inclusion of things about the country’s founders and the Declaration of Independence.

Most of the comments about the science standards centered on evolution and creationism. Some opposed teaching creationism, saying it was a religious concept and not provable. Others supported creationism, also called intelligent design.

Paul Myers, a college professor from the University of Minnesota-Morris, said the standards were exactly what he wanted students to know. But he was concerned that local school boards would be given latitude to introduce alternate theories such as intelligent design.

“There is no controversy for me about evolution,’’ said Myers. “Evolution is the accepted consensus of the scientific community. It’s ridiculous to propose anything beyond evolution in the standards. Creationism is off the table.’’

David Ditmarson of Sunburg said evolution is a theory. He also said he appreciates the specifics. He encouraged the committee to continue to use Minnesota standards and not national standards, and he spoke in support of emphasizing freedom and liberty.

Wayne Cook of Willmar described himself as a man of faith and said there is a debate about the “big bang theory’’ of the origin of the universe. “I believe in a different origin of the Earth,’’ said Cook, and he proposed evolution and creationism be removed from the standards.

Yecke said creationism and intelligent design are not in the standards. “People who say that it is are misspeaking. It would be against the law for us to put creationism in the standards. By law, we’re not allowed to do that. So people who are concerned about that can rest assured that creationism cannot be in the standards because the law will not allow it.’’

She said every local school board would be allowed to decide if they want their teachers to talk about other theories when they teach evolution. “You can talk about the fact that there are other theories and people have differing beliefs on this issue,’’ she said.

Katie Peterson, a junior at Dassel-Cokato High School, said she traveled to Guatemala and wanted to know why she wasn’t taught about the killings that occurred during the civil war in that country. “I want to make the world a better place. We need to look at the big picture,’’ she said, fighting back tears.

Willmar elementary teacher Candy Anderson said the social studies standards are not developmentally appropriate for young children. “I don’t see where the new research on constructivism and all the constructs with social studies … is woven into every single one of these,’’ she said.

After the hearing, Yecke told the Tribune she was very impressed with the hearing. “Everyone was very respectful. They had good comments. There was good balance of points of view, and even though there were people with differing opinions, everyone was treated with respect,’’ she said.