Etiquette, Fashion at High Tea:
Third-Grade Girls Learn Social Skills at Back to School Party

Article published in:
West Plano People & Bent Tree People
Friday, August 18, 2006 Vol. 3, Issue 32

By Tiffany Wessler
Staff Writer

In an effort to instill proper etiquette while building strong friendships, Maryanne Pochyla plans a yearly back-to-school tea party for her daughter, Elizabeth and a group of fellow Mitchell Elementary classmates. The initial gala took place just before the girls started first grade, and Pochyla plans to continue the tradition each year, culminating with a mother-daughter graduation tea when the girls part ways in 2017. “They have been good friends since kindergarten and this is something to keep them together and build their friendships on,” the Bent Tree resident said. “We want the girls to learn to support each other, so they’re there for each other growing up.” And in an age where manners have ebbed away, Jerri Robertson, owner of West Plano’s Building Images Studios and host of the annual event, said proper social skills will empower the young women as they grow up.

“When we build our skills in different areas of their lives, we help them make better choices as they mature and grow,” said Robertson, who last year taught the girls proper place setting and this year led lessons in poise and posture. “We give them skills they can use for a lifetime but make it fun at the same time.”

The girls arrived in sun-dresses, only to be accessorized with feather boas, floppy hats, and colorful beads. After a light brushing of makeup, pictures were taken in the Studio’s Catwalk room, designed with large mirrors and a raised runway. Instructor, Jenny Swanwick, then taught the girls how to stand properly: feet slightly apart, shoulders tall, hands natural and hanging lightly.

After a quick demonstration of walking with slumped shoulders, one girl commented: “That’s how boys walk.” Each girl learned proper standing, walking, and sitting, though spirits remained light as the girls joked with each other. With the music turned to Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi”, the girls quickly roused and danced down the runway, posing, and then strutting back to the energetic claps of their friends.

Though most of the girls had ditched the hats by the end of the dance time, Robertson briefly taught the history of tea and the reason for dressing to the nines. “A long time ago when ladies stayed home, they went out with friends for high noon tea,” Robertson said before leading the girls into the Bistro room complete with petit fours, sugar cubes, and strawberry tea. “They would get dressed up so they felt they had somewhere to go.”

As they sipped in style, the girls watched as their sugar cubes dissolved, talked of their favorite movies, and speculated over who would get the last cookie. Though a few forgot to place their napkins in their laps, and at least one left with a tea moustache, the girls said the yearly lessons make them more mature than their other classmates. “Sometimes others talk with their mouths full”, said 8-year-old Libby Herington. “My mom says that she’s happy with my lessons because I’m becoming more ladylike.”

“It helps when you’ll be an adult,” said Elizabeth Pochyla, who attended a weeklong etiquette camp at the studio this summer. “It doesn’t look like much fun but it is.” Debbie Moody, a third-grade Mitchell Elementary teacher and mom of one of the guests, said she feels the girls are learning valuable lifetime skills, adding that she sees the extreme of bad manners as she sits in the elementary school cafeteria.
“People are so busy and overextended, and they’re not used to sitting down at a table,” Moody said. For additional information on *JGR Group, LLC call: 972-624-1436 or visit them at visit www.JGRGroup.com

E-mail moc.repapswenelpoep@ynaffit
Staff Photos :Lonnie Erickson

*Formerly named Building Images Studios