Etiquette Training
“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Beginning each December at Delaware Valley Classical School, we hold Etiquette classes. They are generally four times per year. Students in the upper school are taught in pairs of grades (e.g., seventh and eighth grades, freshman and sophomores, juniors and seniors). Subject matter revolves around using the fullness of our design in the image of God – words, conduct, presentation – to be a blessing to our neighbors; thus, lessons cover the gamut of the contemporary to the traditional. As a contemporary example, students take part in lessons about social media usage; as a traditional example, students take part in lessons about properly greeting and conversing.
At the end of the year, those same paired grades take part in Protocol events designed to practice their skills. The seventh and eighth grade students enjoy a casual dessert time at which some professionals from our school attend in order to practice conversation at such a function. The freshman and sophomore students attend a daytime community production to practice conducting themselves at an event. This semi-formal event falls after a light luncheon also at which professionals in our community attend in order for the students to practice interaction. The juniors and seniors attend a formal evening dinner and production. An administration-led pairing of gentlemen and ladies in front of our school sets the high standard of this event complete with a time to interact with local professionals and opportunities to give toasts at dinner.
The ultimate goal of Etiquette is that students will graduate with a pleasant, controlled, and respectful nature that is a blessing to all not because they are forced, but rather because they have rightly ordered their loves, see themselves as having an active role in truth, goodness, and beauty, and want to honor God in their Christian walk.
In addition, we bring Etiquette class to the kindergarten class. This is a special support to the teacher that helps students at the onset understand the beauty of proper conduct. These youngsters look forward to this visit from an upper school teacher, and the class creates yet another bridge of relationship between the grammar and logic/rhetoric schools. The year is celebrated with a tea. A Delaware Valley Classical School graduate who joined our family in kindergarten will experience formative Etiquette bookends to a classical education.
The ultimate goal of Etiquette is that students will graduate with a pleasant, controlled, and respectful nature that is a blessing to all not because they are forced, but rather because they have rightly ordered their loves, see themselves as having an active role in truth, goodness, and beauty, and want to honor God in their Christian walk.
We would love to share with you how we use classical Christian education from kindergarten until graduation to encourage and train DVCS students to reach their goals.