School's students receive dinner etiquette lessons

SPRINGFIELD - As head of school at Academy Hill School, Jake A. Giessman wants to make learning fun.

Students at the school were not only treated to an extended lunch - complete with appetizers, a restaurant-quality entrée and dessert, but also received a crash course on dinner etiquette courtesy of Carol McGuiggan.

McGuiggan, a professional development and etiquette consultant as well as an Assumption College faculty member, led students in grades 5 to 8 on an educational - and comical - walk-through of the dos and don'ts of fine dining.

"We've had manners as part of our curriculum sporadically. These are bright kids," said Giessman.

Giessman said that the day's event, designed to educate students on dining-room etiquette, was designed not only to be a fun experience for students, but one that they took something away from.

Among the topics McGuiggan touched upon were hand-shaking, proper ways to sit, napkin placement, the perils of eating salad, and how to cut food into bite-size portions.

McGuiggan, who usually works with recent college graduates, used a number of props in her presentation, including oversized wooden spoons and knives as well as a bread bowl to demonstrate how to properly wrap, unwrap, and pass the bread bowl around the table.

Students were then treated to a chicken entrée, allowing them to put their newly learned skills to work.

"We try to have practical applications and real-world connections," said Giessman, adding that the program was funded by a generous gift from a student's grandparent.

Featuring a wait staff consisting of Giessman and numerous parent and grandparent volunteers, the event appeared to be a resounding success, with not only the students learning, but volunteers, too.

One such parent volunteer was Kathy E. Danielczuk, who served on the wait staff.

"I'm very excited to see that they're doing this with middle-school-aged kids. I'm learning things as I go, too," said Danielczuk, whose daughter is a middle-school student.

"The school keeps coming up with cool ideas. The kids have a lot of fun learning in different ways," she said. "I love to be involved with anything here; I'm getting a lot out of it myself."

Danielczuk also had good things to say about the students. "The kids are very well-behaved and attentive," she said.