THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 23, 1994 TAG: 9408230428
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Until Monday, Ruffner Middle School head guidance counselor John Alexander never thought much about the messages his clothes were sending. Now, the next time he buys a coat or tie, he'll know to pick warm, deep colors that fit his skin tone and eye color.
It was no small discovery.
In fact, Alexander and fellow teachers at Ruffner are learning this week that the clothes they wear and the image they project could produce big results in the classroom.
``If children see you taking care of how you present yourself, it's sort of like being a role model,'' Alexander said after attending a 2 1/2-hour workshop on dressing for the '90s.
As the nation grapples with how to raise the quality of public education, new Ruffner Principal Pamela Hoffler-Riddick has hit on an idea.
She calls it ``Operation Courtesy and Respect.'' It boils down to image - the subtle and not-so-subtle messages we send by the way we dress, talk and act.
The project started this week: Ruffner teachers are learning the fine points of social etiquette taught by a local charm school and an image consultant.
This year, along with lessons in English, math and social studies, Ruffner teachers will talk about good manners and other social skills in daily 30-minute sessions with students.
``We all know image is everything,'' HofflerRiddick, 33, said. ``It's important to me that educators be treated as professionals.''
Her faculty-development initiative is thought to be a first for Norfolk teachers. The program, which so far has cost about $4,200 in training, has the blessing of central office administrators and the support of teachers and parents.
``I think it's appropriate,'' Deputy Superintendent J. Frank Sellew said. ``Essentially you're talking about people being able to get along with each other.''
A parent visiting Ruffner on Monday said she has no problem with teachers using class time to discuss manners with her seventh-grade daughter.
``If it's going to help the kids - no,'' said Cheryl Thompson, who lives across Tidewater Drive from Ruffner at Tidewater Gardens public housing. ``I hope it works for her.''
And Hoffler-Riddick didn't have to twist arms to get teachers to participate.
``This is the kind of thing that needs to be brought back into the curriculum,'' said Bill Pickens, a multimedia teacher in his first year at Ruffner. ``These are basic skills that somehow have been lost.''
Much of the training, in fact, is all about those old-fashioned virtues of courtesy and respect.
``All the laws in the world aren't going to change anything as long as people aren't courteous and don't show respect for one another,'' said Barbara Lewis, director of Charm Associates Inc. in Virginia Beach, which is instructing Ruffner teachers.
Mary Jane Barnes, owner of Image Management of Virginia Beach, told a group of male teachers Monday that their choice of clothes can create an aura of authority and respectability in the classroom and in the community.
The teachers learned how to ``power dress'' and select colors right for them. They were given ``wallets'' with fabric swatches inside to carry with them when buying shirts, coats and ties. They also learned about body language, grooming habits and table manners.
Hoffler-Riddick hopes teachers can help create standards of dress and behavior among the students.
At the middle-school level, as children begin to develop into young adults, teaching socialization skills - how to fit in with their peers - is critical for their success, in Hoffler-Riddick's view.
``Schools fundamentally focus on the academics component, but realistically we must also deal with the social and personal needs of our students,'' she said.
This is especially important at Ruffner, she said, where 70 percent of the students come from low-income families.
Hoffler-Riddick's experience growing up in a poverty-ridden neighborhood in New York City's South Bronx infuses her effort. The oldest of three daughters, she was raised by a single mother who relied for many years on public assistance to survive.
Her chance for escape came when she was labeled ``gifted'' in second grade. She was pulled from a majority-black school and placed into one that was attended almost exclusively by white children. She credits her success to the lessons she learned as a result.
Having teachers instruct poor students in middle-class manners and etiquette, she said, should open the doors of opportunity a little wider.
She said she is convinced that economic success in America is most easily achieved through the cultural mainstream.
``You have to be very clear about teaching these children to respect who they are but also helping them to cross over into mainstream America,'' she said. ``Teaching good manners and etiquette is one way to bridge the gap in those differences between the lower socioeconomic group and the middle class.''
And for Alexander and the other teachers, there's the added benefit of knowing that the clothes they choose are right for them, whether they're warm and deep or cool and light.
``These are things I'd never thought about,'' Alexander said. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Bill Pickens, left, and Timothy Wright get power dressing tips from
consultant Mary Jane Barnes.
by CNB