WSVN — From dining to dancing.
Alina Trueba: “You want to do a nice, firm friendly handshake.”
Kids ages 12 and up are learning etiquette from a non-profit organization called Door to the Arts.
Alina Trueba: “It’s an enrichment program that we started here in South Florida.”
Alina and Vivian are moms who wanted to teach kids how to make a good impression, like how to greet someone and make eye contact.
Alina Trueba: “Guaranteed 100 percent if you smile at someone they’re going to smile back.”
Alina Trueba: “We try to make it life skills, life lessons, things they can use in everyday life, whether it’s a job interview or a school interview.”
Proper table manners are a must since many kids aren’t sure what to do in a formal setting.
Vivian Escribano: “When you have more than one fork, more than one plate, a cup, a bread plate, how to eat your dessert, drink your tea.”
Kids not only learn the proper way to pass the bread basket but how to eat the bread.
Alina Trueba: “You eat a dinner roll piece by piece.”
They even teach how to eat tricky foods like Fettuccine.
Alina Trueba: “So you log it and you twist just like that.”
Parents say it can be tough to teach kids good manners.
Martha Servin: “Right now my kids, teenagers, don’t listen to mom or dad.”
So Martha signed her son and daughter up for the course. Their favorite part turned out to be the dancing.
Martha Servin: “That’s given them a huge sense of confidence and they feel more comfortable in social settings.”
Twelve-year-old Miranda loves dancing and says learning the proper etiquette is important.
Miranda San Pedro: “The girls shouldn’t be the ones to ask the boys to dance. It should be the other way around.”
Eighteen-year-old Michael Agrees. He hopes the class will help in the future.
Michael Latimer: “I also feel like in college it may help cause girls will always like a good dancer so this would always help.”
Door to the Arts will be offering after school programs starting in September.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Door to the Arts
www.doortothearts.org