Chris Hedden has a simple motto when it comes to setting the dinner table: Do not dirty more dishes than you need to.
Not that most households lack dishwashers. But the average pre-teen wants to minimize the heavy lifting required when carting dishes from the cabinet to the table, the Barrington Hills 11-year-old said.
So when it was time for his 6th grade class at Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus to exercise table manners and dining etiquette at a recent practice meal, he was humored by the need for a knife and especially an extra fork.
“Believe me, I am not acting like this (at home),” he said as he and a roomful of classmates politely devoured a full entree, side dishes, salad and pie meal. “I don’t act like this at home. I just use one fork. I don’t say please.”
Chris and co-conspirators at his table were quickly advised to quit talking with a full mouth by a teacher pouring apple cider for more proper proteges.
The hourlong meal was a first-time experiment orchestrated by Jeani Jernstedt. She and other Prairie Campus 6th-grade teachers use a 30-minute free period every day to team-teach once commonplace skills that make for more well-rounded pupils. Card game tournaments and social dancing are upcoming activities.
The etiquette sessions, based on Emily Post’s sage rulings, forced Prairie Campus pupils to learn rarely practiced customs in the era of “casual, television dining,” said home economics teacher Wanita Lamkey.
The Barrington Unit District 220 pupils learned to greet one another properly (“Don’t introduce people by their first names only”). They also practiced setting a table for a formal meal and perused a 12-point list of dining do’s and don’t’s (“Don’t take huge mouthfuls of anything”).
Some 6th graders broke the rules, using fingers to push food onto a fork or omitting the obligatory “please.” But some were so enthusiastic, they brought their own dishes from home and practiced newfound greeting skills.
“I didn’t know you had to introduce older people first,” said Julie Casey, 11, of Barrington.
“I learned where to put your silverware,” said Xay Kong, 11, of Carpentersville, who said he is sure this information will be valuable later in life . . . not now.
Teacher Jane McCreadie said her pupils only eat sit-down meals with their families once or twice a week, and the primary reason is parent work schedules. For some children, public school is the only place to learn etiquette, she said.
“They don’t have the opportunity to practice this,” said McCreadie, a 25-year District 220 veteran. “(Some District 220 pupils) go to four-star restaurants. The money is there. The training isn’t.”
