Dessert & Dancing

Georgia's recent ice storms meant that Perfectly Polished had to delay our Valentine Dessert and Dancing event until recently—but for the 75 high school students attending, it was definitely worth the wait!

For nearly 20 years, we've held this party as the last hurrah before our big Spring Formal. And we live up to the Dessert and Dancing name! The evening features three courses of desserts...

...dancing...

...and signing dance cards in advance of the Spring Formal. 

It's a great opportunity to use all of the table manners they've learned over the years with Perfectly Polished, and we see it in action: gentlemen standing when ladies come to the table; entering the chair from the right; placing silverware in the "I am resting" and "I am finished" positions...our students always look forward to it, and so do we!

Great Moments in Olympic Sportsmanship

The 2014 Winter Olympics are nearly upon us!

As the world's top athletes gather and recite the Olympic Oath, perhaps we can draw inspiration from their words:

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams." 

As we mull over those words, "in the true spirit of sportsmanship," let's also think about the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius—Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger." The founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin, had another well-known motto for the Olympic athletes: "The most important thing is not to win but to take part!" (He borrowed the phrase from a bishop's sermon given at the 1908 Olympics.)

It's a great time to remind ourselves of the importance of good sportsmanship, even if it's on the neighborhood cul-de-sac, the Little League field, or a community team (for kids OR adults!). If you need some inspiration, check out these Top 10 Moments of Olympic Sportsmanship, the BBC's collection of inspiring personal stories, and a great story about a festival in Punjab, India that offers the community an Olympics-inspired event.