Tea Party Is a Lesson in Decorum

Dressed in their finest clothes, the guests sampled an array of delicate pastries and finger sandwiches, and daintily sipped hot tea. The conversation was gracious and the guests’ comportment genteel.

Belying the conventional wisdom that kindergartners are boisterous and unruly, pupils in Janis Clark and LeeLou Sell’s classes at Adelaide Price Elementary School on Friday served each other a classic high tea, complete with floral centerpieces and tablecloths.

“I just got tired of the Chuck E Cheese effect,” said Clark, referring to the popular pizza parlor known for its informality and clamor.

“Now they’re dressed up,” she said, “they’re complimenting each other. They get very quiet.”

The goal, Clark said, is to broaden the cultural horizons of the youngsters by demonstrating that a fine meal can be every bit as satisfying as a burger and fries.

“We talk about it being a special time,” Sell said. “They’ve been to McDonald’s. This is another type of dining experience.”

The tea was the finale of a weeklong classroom project that included reading about that famous tea party in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” learning how teapots are made and studying where tea is grown.

Etiquette lessons were part of the unit, with Sell explaining that polite diners don’t begin eating until their table mates have all been served and that “when you carry on a dinner conversation, you’re not using your ‘outside’ voice.”

The children were caught up in the spirit of the day. Said Melissa Geist, 6, dressed in a jade-green dress for her very first tea party: “We learned lots of stuff. I like it.”

Classmate Heather Skall, 6, envisioned herself as a hostess someday. “When I grow up,” she said, “I want to have tea parties.”

But she might limit her guest list, she said, to girls only, and would insist on good manners. “Most of them did say ‘thank you,’ ” she said of her classmates, “but not all of them.”

Other guests proudly pointed out their contributions to the party.

Jeremiah Woolever, 5, attired in a fashionable sports coat, showed a visitor his colorful teapot drawing on the wall, then succinctly summarized the lesson of the day: “Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and behave.”

Parents were among those invited, and several brought cameras to capture the event on film or videotape.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Monica Mares, whose 6-year-old son, Julius, was dapper in a brand-new suit. “It gives them a chance to get all dressed up.”

And, noting how polite the children were “and how carefully they’re eating,” Mares said maybe the same refined behavior will surface occasionally at home.