Hernandez Girls Practice Skills at Etiquette Luncheon
*Editors Note: Corridor News finds it interesting in a strange kind of way, that this “Etiquette Luncheon” is only happening with our girls and not with the boys involved in some way.
The G.I.R.L.S. Club of Hernandez Elementary celebrated their Etiquette Luncheon on February 13, 2015, at the Price Tea Room. Comprised of 5th grade girls, the Girls in Real Life Situations (G.I.R.L.S.) club meets every other week to focus on activities designed to help them be better friends, students, and citizens. This includes learning communication skills, making and writing thank you notes, and being good role models. Educators give good nutrition advice and healthy hygiene tips for skin and hair.
The experience also includes lessons in culture. In April, the G.I.R.L.S. club will enjoy an evening musical at Texas State University. But the highlight of February was the Etiquette Luncheon at the Price Tea Room. The young women had learned how to properly set a table in the campus counseling center, and had practiced – but this was the big day to put those lessons to the test.
As counselor Mary Williams conducted a quick summary on table etiquette, the girls were ready to take on the challenges of how to squeeze a lemon without squirting one’s neighbor, how to butter a bite of bread at a time, and to how lift the tea spoon up-and-down in the glass to dispel the sweetener—rather than stir round-and-round and risk clinking the glass. They sliced the lettuce but avoided the perils of cherry tomatoes. Soup was negotiated by skimming from the front of the bowl to the back, and lifting to sip from the side of the spoon—without a single slurp. They went on to conquer the main entrée and dessert in similar style.
Style was the word-of-the-day, and the Hernandez ladies were models of decorum.
Williams said, “They loved learning about this, and most of them were impressed with what they had learned. They couldn’t wait to go home to show their parents.”
School Board trustee Margie Villalpando helped organize the event and plated the meals on the big day. The event was sponsored by the Tea Room, Beta Sigma Phi, and Dr. Ginna Nelson. Beta Sigma Phi members Darlene Hill, Diane Wallis, and Karen Mostyn served the meals to the students; Kim Morgan-Benson and Cassie Oroczo prepared, served, and replenished the lemonade. Fifth grader teachers Susan Brown, Addie Woodard, and Cindy Matias helped with lovely table decorations and the table settings the evening before the event. The delicious meal was catered by the Texas Pie Company. Marie and Ron Jager provided technical support for the function, and everyone’s talents were appreciated.