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Staff Photo by Lesley Onstott Red Bank JROTC members Franklin Wright, right, and Jake Davis eat lunch during an etiquette class at the Hamilton Education Association Building on Thursday. Each year the school's JROTC program holds an afternoon of etiquette lessons for the students.
The green uniformed high school cadets might feel more at home with the sound of "left, right, left" while marching in formation, but Thursday they learned that "left" means "fork" and "right" means "knife."
"How many letters does 'left' have?" asked Margaret Ann Pritchard, etiquette and protocol consultant with Manners and Protocol.
"Four," the Red Bank High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets answered.
"How many letters does 'fork' have?" Ms. Pritchard asked.
"Four," the group replied.
The number of letters in other familiar table items were quick clues for proper locations during dining, she told the cadets. The word "right" has five letters as do the words "knife," "spoon" and "glass," which all are placed on the right side of the plate.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Hugh Enicks is the senior Army instructor for the Red Bank High School JROTC program. He and Dr. Patricia Skates started the etiquette seminar for cadets five years ago.
Ms. Pritchard teaches etiquette to universities, government groups, students and business leaders.
"The key is interaction. I like to be highly involved with the students," she said.
The half-day course is offered once a year. The colonel raises outside donations to pay for Ms. Pritchard to conduct the class, which covers dining, interviews, meet and greets and other social etiquette lessons.
"I think leaders are role models and you need to know how to act properly in public," Lt. Col. Enicks said.
The cadets sat at rectangular folding tables in the Hamilton County Education Association building practicing how to ask for a sweet tea refill, or decline one. They ate chicken, green salad and potatoes. Chocolate cake was dessert.
Cadet Master Sgt. Hunter Ramsey, a Red Bank junior who plans to join the Army after he finishes college, said the interviewing and dining lessons would be useful.
"I think it's very helpful especially to get ready for job interviews," he said.
There are about 200 cadets in the Red Bank program and 110 in the Leadership Academy. The event was part of annual academy training, Lt. Col. Enicks said.
Thirty-six cadets attended Thursday's event. Since the program began 200 have gone through the etiquette training.
The colonel said he's gotten good feedback from people about how the cadets conduct themselves in public.
"I tell them, 'You never know who's watching you when you're out in public,'" he said.
Todd South covers courts and the military for the Times Free Press. He has worked at the paper for three years and previously covered crime and safety in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Todd’s hometown is Dodge City, Kan. He served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before returning to school for his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Todd previously worked at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. Contact Todd ...
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