"I believe that my race will succeed in proportion as it learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner; learns to do a thing so thoroughly that no one can improve upon what it has done; learns to make its services of indispensable value."
- Booker T. Washington
- Booker T. Washington
Last week our middle school students got the opportunity to brush up of their etiquette. Each year the kids get a refresher course on the finer points of etiquette (especially dining manners) which is actually much more like etiquette 410 (not the introductory level course) because it is very advanced. Everything from which fork to use for what course to how to get rid of an olive pit (in with a fork, out with a fork) is taught from top to bottom. The next day, the students got the opportunity to practice these rules as they divided into groups and had a beautiful, multi-course lunch in some of the most beautiful homes in Dallas served by very loving hostesses.
This is always a really fun activity, and the kids did really well. The only snafus we had were a lot of low talking and one putting a few too many scoops of sugar in his iced tea. Throughout the whole experience, I could not help thinking of this quote from Booker T. Washington which I shared with the kids afterward. Washington is really talking about excellence for all people in any arena as opening doors of opportunity and as a recipe for success. It was so encouraging for me as a teacher to see my students practice the art of conversation and fine dining when these are skills that are largely lost on society as a whole, especially in their age bracket. These are little skills which my kids are now equipped to perform with excellence which will make them stand out in a crowd of their peers and will hopefully open many doors for them in the future. And even if they forget to cut up their meat only a few pieces at a time and tear their dinner roll and eat one bite at a time at least they will always be courteous and mindful of others.
seating the ladies
beautiful place settings
This is always a really fun activity, and the kids did really well. The only snafus we had were a lot of low talking and one putting a few too many scoops of sugar in his iced tea. Throughout the whole experience, I could not help thinking of this quote from Booker T. Washington which I shared with the kids afterward. Washington is really talking about excellence for all people in any arena as opening doors of opportunity and as a recipe for success. It was so encouraging for me as a teacher to see my students practice the art of conversation and fine dining when these are skills that are largely lost on society as a whole, especially in their age bracket. These are little skills which my kids are now equipped to perform with excellence which will make them stand out in a crowd of their peers and will hopefully open many doors for them in the future. And even if they forget to cut up their meat only a few pieces at a time and tear their dinner roll and eat one bite at a time at least they will always be courteous and mindful of others.
seating the ladies
beautiful place settings
Could you give our kids the course? hee.
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