CC boys put social skills on show at Royal Soirée
Published:Tuesday | December 27, 2022 | 12:55 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
On December 19, Cornwall College fifth-formers put their gentlemanly stature and social graces on show during the Montego Bay-based boys’ school’s fifth annual staging of its Royal Soirée at the Grand-a-View Restaurant in the Second City.
The students arrived at the formal wear dinner event with their dates, mainly from the neighbouring Mount Alvernia High School as well as Montego Bay High School, St James High School, Irwin High School, Herbert Morrison High School and Manning’s School.
The exercise saw the boys putting into practice lessons taught during the school’s personal development course. They were judged on their understanding of the main elements of the course, tested in areas such as dining room etiquette, social dancing, dating and maintaining healthy relationships, and dressing for success.
Enlightening experience
Zachary Cox described the event as an enlightening experience which allowed him and his fellow students to show off their mastery of social graces.
“‘Etiquette’ is from the French word for ‘placard’ – étiquette – literally meaning ‘rules printed and posted’. The teaching of the rules has been done in some cultures as a rite of passage, how to be accepted in various strata of society, and this course on personal development ... has been an eye-opener for most of us,” Cox reasoned.
“Today, we have seen personal development in living colour. I want to say thank you to the boys of Cornwall College for being good ambassadors of our motto, Disce Aut Discede (‘Learn or Leave’),” Cox added.
The boys and their dates also competed for the soirée’s crown titles of Mr Suave and Miss Elegant, which were claimed by Halroy Black and his companion Tanya Kentish, a student of Irwin High School.
Lecia Allen, vice-principal of Cornwall College’s upper school, praised the students’ demonstration of their understanding of the course, which was originally created in 2009 and led to the first staging of the event in 2017.
“Everyone who ever called our young men of grade 11 ‘crude’ and ‘uncouth’ had to eat their words, as our gentlemen gave top-class attention to their dates and handled themselves skilfully and decorously as they dined in fine style. A number of spot prizes were also issued to students who accurately answered questions based on the contents of the personal development course, which they completed during the Christmas term,” Allen explained.
Men of might
“I want to say thanks to our many sponsors, parents and well-wishers who continue to partner with us in our efforts to transform our boys into men of might,” Allen added. “To our young gentlemen, you raised the bar much higher this year, as you turned up and represented and made us extremely proud. We truly appreciate the amazing returns on our investments in you.”
School Chairman Dr Richard Meggo noted that the soirée was being staged at a time when Jamaica is adopting a crude and undisciplined mindset.
“We live in a day and age when a large segment of the Jamaican society thinks it is cool and fashionable to be uncouth, ‘cruffish’ and ‘bhutto-ish’. It is nice for you to demonstrate that it is still a good thing to be associated with words like ‘debonair’, ‘suave’, ‘elegant’, ‘graceful’ and ‘stylish’,” said Meggo. “Being a man of might is not simply passing through the hallowed halls of this institution; it is about the holistic and total development of the individuals who have sojourned here. The impartation of skills in social graces is an important component of the fashioning of these young men’s lives.”
The Cornwall College Alumni Associations of Canada and South Florida, the Montego Bay and Kingston chapters of the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association, and the Cornwall College Parent-Teacher Association also contributed to the event’s success.