Girls Academy students learn proper etiquette

EAST COUNTY — As Ershny Edmond glanced over at businessman John Neal, she realized she might know a few things that he didn’t.

The third-grade student at Just for Girls Academy covered her mouth to suppress a laugh as Neal tossed his cloth napkin on his lap.

“Oh, that isn’t how you do it?,” he asked Ershny. “Well, show me.”

After two weeks of napkin folding and proper greeting lessons taught by members of the University Park Woman’s Club, Ershny and the 20 other girls who participated in an etiquette program have become authorities on ladylike demeanor.

The students showcased 10 hours of classroom lessons, led by women’s club Co-Chairwoman Mary Beth Bennett, at an etiquette luncheon May 14, at the University Park Country Club.

Neal, a longtime supporter of the Just for Girls Academy, sponsored the event and visited each table to learn from the girls.

Students sang three songs for their audience and ate lunch with women’s club members. They carefully watched their older counterparts, examining their manners and trying to duplicate the actions on their own.

The lessons have helped Yarellis Martir feel more confident when she dines out with her family.

“If I want to go to a fancy restaurant, I know what to do at the table now,” Martir said.

The girls received a certificate at the luncheon for completing the program — a piece of the curriculum Principal Jen nifer Rosenboom hopes will continue in future years.

As part of the school’s mission to educate the whole girl, Rosenboom decided her students could benefit from learning conversational skills from older, accomplished women, she said.

“We want girls to be well-rounded,” Rosenboom said. “They can’t be what they can’t see, and we want the girls to see all different ways of life. The women’s club ladies showed the girls the success they can have when they get older.”

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected]