Cotillion Class Enjoyed A Treat At My Place

By Kendra Bobowick

Well dressed and on their best behavior Monday afternoon, students from the St Rose School Cotillion Class tested their etiquette over lunch at My Place Restaurant on May 18.

“I think the kids like being dressed up and going out,” said St Rose teacher and Cotillion Class coordinator Frances VanZanten.

Moving from one table to the next, manager Heather Matte’s orders for desserts and a beverage added up quickly since students had been taught the proper restaurant etiquette and knew what to expect when she reached their table. Hustling to get to each of her roughly 28 guests, Ms Matte said later, “They were very well mannered.”

What was the occasion? Explaining the date at the restaurant on Queen Street, Ms VanZanten said, “It’s a culmination. They can enjoy each other’s company and their newly acquired social skills.” As implied by the name, the class includes dance instruction, and also offers the students a taste of common courtesy. The Cotillion Class is about getting students to be the best people they can be, Ms VanZanten said.

“I think it has gone by the way, but I am trying to bring back those skills [our] moms and grandmothers learned,” she explained. “A lot of times they are taken for granted.” Running down her mental list of social graces, she mentioned table manners, sportsmanship, written invitations, and thank you notes.

“I don’t think children stop to write [thank you notes] anymore. Things are e-mail short hand, not handwritten.” Her point? “It’s taking time out and enjoying one another rather than doing things quickly — you’re going somewhere and pull clothes from the closet. Do we stop to give thought to our appearance?” she asked.

The young men and women will know how to act while eating out, how to order from a menu, how to behave in a movie theater, how to make introductions. “It reinforces proper, good, polite behavior.

And, they will learn to dance.

Dresses and ribbons, button-down shirts, and dinner jackets gave the young St Rose students the look of dinner party guests — a look they liked. “It feels good and it’s fun to dress up. I feel elegant,” said Hailey Pindell.

Adele Whitlock enjoys dressing up. “I like to play princess and a teenager,” she said. Stephen Sedensky said he feels special in his nice clothes, but also likes dressing down. “No uniform.” Victoria Gugliotti is happy that she has learned to dance. Describing some dance steps and arm movements that she had not known, Colleen Denault also likes the dance.

Ms VanZanten heads the Cotillion Class and teaches dance because she loves it, she said. “Dancing can be like riding a bicycle. You don’t forget and you can use it at the prom, weddings; it’s a lifelong skill.”

The Cotillion Class is in its second year.