Helping New Generations To Mind Their Manners

By Susan Coney

When you first meet Teri LaRocque you are taken back by her charming southern drawl. A transplant from North Carolina, Ms LaRocque has been living and working in Newtown for the past several years. When speaking with Ms LaRocque you are immediately impressed by her genuinely warm and gracious personality; so it is not surprising that she would be the perfect person to teach etiquette to children.

Ms LaRocque, an English and history teacher at The Fraser Woods School, was recently trained and certified as a Children’s Etiquette Consultant by The Protocol School of Washington. Ms LaRocque received her training from Dorothea Johnson, the founder and director of The Protocol School of Washington, a leader in etiquette and protocol services. Ms Johnson has presented her etiquette and protocol programs to more than 50,000 individuals worldwide. She is an author and frequent contributor to trade and business publications.

 Ms Johnson says, “I have never seen anything like the hunger for etiquette classes that exists right now.” She estimates that the demand for classes has quadrupled over the last five years.

Ms LaRocque who has been trained to teach etiquette and dining programs to children, teens, and young adults sees a real need to bring traditional values and good manners to today’s generation. Ms LaRocque, as a teacher and a parent herself, was interested in becoming an etiquette consultant to help children build confidence in party and dining situations. The goal of the program is to help students feel comfortable and self-assured in social situations.

Intrigued by the program developed and taught by Dorothea Johnson, Ms LaRocque said, “I learned so much in the training. I found out when I attended her program many things that I thought I knew,  I didn’t. It’s a wonderful program.”

Ms LaRocque is certified to train students ages 8 to 22 years old. She will be holding classes in July offering two sessions, one for fourth and fifth graders and a second session for children in grades sixth through eighth. The sessions will run for two days, three hours per session.

Ms LaRocque will provide her students with a foundation of good manners designed to prepare them for the international environment we live in. Each session provides interactive, role playing exercises that help to encourage courtesy and respect. Topics featured will be introductions, dining and table manners, polite conversation, remembering names, the importance of thank you notes, and most importantly social and communication skills.

“It’s always a good idea to polish up on social skills,” Ms LaRocque stressed. Her motto is, “It’s better to know what to do and not need it, than to need to know what to do and not know.”

The classes will be held in July at The Fraser Woods School and class size will be limited to no more than 12 students per session. Ms LaRocque is interested in holding a class for high school students in the fall concentrating especially on interviewing skills and helping to improve first impressions. She is also available to teach all types of groups such as Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops.

For more information about classes you may contact Teri LaRocque at 270-0503 or by email at thl1981@netscape.net.