Grace and style for dinner

Seated at the round table near the back corner of the school gym, six students looked around nervously, unsure of what they were supposed to be doing.

When should they put the napkin on their lap?

What should they do with the olive pits after eating the Greek olives?

Which is the dessert fork and which is the salad fork?

All these questions and dozens of others were asked on an etiquette test at St. Vincent de Paul School.

But knowing the answers and actually remembering proper etiquette are two different things.

"I'm afraid of knocking things over," said Benjamin Bira.

Bira was one of the students with the highest scores on the etiquette test who was treated to a "Fancy Feast" prepared by the Rev. Derek Swanson, a newly ordained priest at St. Vincent De Paul parish, and Carol Simon, who works at the school.

The gourmet meal focused on using good manners and was an extension of something the teaching staff discovered when they read a book by Ron Clark.

Principal Nancy Heberlie said the book focuses on 55 essential things teachers should be teaching in the classroom and good manners is one of them.

The staff decided to offer a fancy dinner to the students who could pass an etiquette test. When Swanson learned about the meal he volunteered to help. Students usually see him milling about the cafeteria when they're eating lunch but few knew his hobby is cooking.

He and Simon developed a menu that featured a Greek salad, butternut squash soup, Greek chicken with angel hair pasta and baklava.

The meal was a little more exotic than the foods the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders would have feasted on at home. But they relaxed after the soup arrived.

Alicia Toole said it wasn't really anything she'd have tried at home if her mother served it.

Brandon Erwin agreed. "I wouldn't have tried it but my mom would have made me," he said.

And that's part of having good manners. Even if you don't like the food being served, it's best to sample a bite or two of it.

So the students obliged when Swanson served the squash soup. Erwin liked the smooth, bisque-like soup that had just a hint of curry powder. "It's a lot better than chicken noodle," he said.

But few of Erwin's classmates thought it was delicious. Swanson knew it would be a risk serving the soup. "They thought it tasted like pumpkin," he said.

And there might have been too many vegetables in the salad but the chicken and dessert were hits.

Classmates watching the students eat wondered about what was being served. Their lunch was chili and peanut butter sandwiches.

Alex Stone said the hardest part of the etiquette test was labeling everything on the table, from silverware to goblets. "And there's nothing that sounded good," said Daniel Oliver.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126