After a couple of sessions with the lunch bunch, Glenville-Emmons second-graders should be able eat at the White House, should they be invited.

Thursday, September 30, 1999

After a couple of sessions with the lunch bunch, Glenville-Emmons second-graders should be able eat at the White House, should they be invited.

That’s according to the district’s social worker, Sandy Olson. She’s organized the lunch bunch as a continuation of etiquette lessons began when the children were in first grade.

&uot;We’re reinforcing what they’ve learned last year and what they’re parents have taught them at home,&uot; Olson said. &uot;The parents are good about teaching these things. So this is one of those projects where the parents and school work together.&uot;

Last year, as first graders, the students learned about table manners and etiquette and hosted a tea party for their parents. Olson said they’re expanding on that this year.

The classes in both the Glenville and Emmons buildings are split into quarters. Once a week, Olson has lunch with one group. They work on table manners including appropriate dinner conversation and how to introduce guests, Olson said.

&uot;We try to make it special. There’s cloth napkins and a table cloth and a centerpiece,&uot; Olson said. &uot;And we always have a special treat.&uot;

But getting the children to say &uot;please&uot; and &uot;thank you&uot; is the not only point of the program.

&uot;The whole purpose is to increase their self-confidence and self-esteem,&uot; Olson said. &uot;Many of these kids are self-conscious when they go to someone else’s house to eat, because they don’t really know how to act.&uot;

And with families as busy as they are these days, Olson said that some parents aren’t able to eat meals with their children on a regular basis or reinforce the proper table etiquette.

The children enjoy the opportunity to eat outside the lunchroom.

&uot;They see it as something special that they get to do,&uot; Olson said.

&uot;It’s quiet here,&uot; Shinead Cunningham said when her lunch bunch group shared their meal in the Emmons family and consumer sciences classroom. &uot;I can hear people when they talk. It’s loud in the lunchroom.&uot;

But in addition to enjoying each other’s company, the children are learning more about etiquette as well.

Although Casey Hallman said he’s been helping his mother set the table for a couple years, the second grade student at Emmons added that he’s learned more.

&uot;I know how to set the table. I know how to put the silverware in the right place. I know how to set the cups where it’s supposed to be,&uot; Hallman said.

&uot;And don’t put your elbows on the table,&uot; added classmate Clarrissa Coleman.