Boys and girls in The National League of Junior Cotillions, The Greater Creekside Chapter, attend a spring ball at the end of the season.[/caption]
The National League of Junior Cotillions was created in 1989, and its members—young boys and girls—are educated in mannerly conduct, courtesy and several forms of etiquette.
Natalie Moon, director of The National League of Junior Cotillions, The Greater Creekside Chapter, established the chapter in The Woodlands in 2014 to bring self-confidence, discipline and etiquette to children who are growing up in a technological world.
“I feel like technology has really taken over, and this takes [children] back to the basics to learning how to treat everyone with respect, learning how to use proper manners and interacting with the opposite sex during that awkward period,” she said.
Moon said the organization is for boys and girls in fifth through ninth grades. In year one, students complete six classes together and then attend a spring ball at the end of the year. In year two, students attend five classes, an instructional five-course meal and the spring ball. There are about 50 students in a class.
“We go over all different things in the classes,” Moon said. “We call them ladies and gentlemen not boys and girls. We alternate from classroom instruction and we go into ballroom dance. We teach the parents how to waltz in the last two classes, and parents dance with children at the ball.”
Moon said the classes are an hour and half and are held once a month. The cotillion season runs from September through March.
Along with Creekside Park and Tomball area schools, the Greater Creekside chapter also accepts children who attend Knox and Irons junior high schools and elementary schools in both feeder zones.
“We do send some invitations to join,” Moon said. “In the perfect world, I’d have access to all of my territory and be able to send invitations to everybody. It’s open to my schools and home-school, too. It’s open to people in my school’s territory and affiliated with the chapter.”
Moon said students pay $400 during their first years in the organization, while students in their second years pay $440, which covers the instructional dinners they attend.
“This is for parents trying to instill old traditions and behaviors into their children,” she said. “I’d like to expand [the chapter] for sure. I’m looking at areas that don’t have an offer yet.”
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