Should I join Cotillion this year or not?
Cotillion is this after-school dance thing. It's about once a month, on a Friday night. Girls are supposed to wear dresses, and boys are supposed to wear suits. You learn how to ballroom dance. It was more fun than I expected. You switch partners, you get cookies and soda, you get to see your friends. You don't get to talk to them for long, though, because most of the time you're too busy ballroom dancing with a boy who's most likely a stranger, anyway. Plus, they force you into acting like "ladies" and "gentlemen". It's seriously sexist. The girl has to like follow the lead in the dance, and whenever we walk around the room we have to cling to the boys arm. We also have to wear gloves, and when we take them off, we have to put them "pretty side up", and a dress is mandatory. Not to mention that it costs 135. It's very irritating that you're being forced into formal clothes and expected to follow all their stupid guidelines and you have to PAY for it, just to see your friends. I can't decide whether I like it or not. What do you think?
Read this letter they send to everyone, and listen to how uptight and obnoxious they sound. They don't stick strictly to all these rules (I walk home without supervision from Cotillion every time I go, parents are never "drafted" into volunteering, no one really cares if you skip, and I don't remember anyone being asked to leave-not that I really remember anyone making a big disturbance, and if they did, they'd probably be kicked out) but they're not exactly easygoing.
Dear Parents and Students:
We invite students to apply for membership in Cotillion, a popular school activity, which has become a tradition on the peninsula. The Booster Club sponsors Cotillion.
This year we will have approximately eight (8) dances, one per month. Each dance is a semi-formal dance or a themed dance and is treated as a planned party, with music, decorations, and refreshments. Cotillion provides our students with instructions in basic dance steps and an education in the social graces. Some dances will have special themes so that students will have the choice of wearing costumes or semi-formal attire. Parents are normally invited to one of the dances (usually the dance in February). Each year we take grade-level panoramic group photos and we plan to continue this tradition. To ensure that your child receives an invitation to Cotillion, please complete the attached form (and medical release on the following page) and MAIL it along with your payment to the address on the Application
form. Applications will be accepted by mail only and the deadline is Friday, September 12th. In order to have similar numbers of boys and girls, students from the same grade level will be required to sign up with an application partner of the opposite gender. This does not mean that they are paired up as dance partners at the dances; it is merely a way to keep the number of girls and boys even. Having an application partner will ensure your child receives an invitation. If you absolutely cannot find an application partner, we will hold your application and payment check and try to match you with another student of the same grade and opposite gender---on a firstcome, first-served basis. We will try our very best not to turn anyone away who would like to join Cotillion. However, in the past, we have had to return some applications in order to keep the boy/girl ratio close to even or when the class size
becomes too large. This helps to make the program work best. Formal invitations will be mailed to members accepted into Cotillion. A mandatory orientation will be held in early September.
The continuation of high school Cotillion is provided at the high school seniors level. Assembly is a program of formal dances and community service culminating in a senior recognition ball. Assembly membership
is competitive and requires 3 years of participation in high school Cotillion with a minimum of excused absences. The Assembly program may be especially valuable for boys, since there are fewer community service groups available for boys than there are for girls; community service is an important part of our children's high
school experience.
Cotillion Coordinators, together with the Booster Club Board of Directors, have adopted the following policies.
Parents and members are asked to cooperate to continue making this program very exciting and successful.
Cotillion Participation Code
GIRLS must wear party dress, white gloves, and appropriate dress shoes. NO strapless, halter, or bare back dresses. Dresses should be of a suitable length. Parents please help the Cotillion coordinators and ensure that your daughter is following the dress code.
BOYS must wear suit or sport coat, dress shirt, dress slacks, ties, and hard-sole dress shoes. NO athletic shoes.
All students are expected to be respectful, use good manners, and listen to instructions.
PARENTS must be willing to volunteer up to three hours of time during the entire season to help decorate, clean up, or chaperone.
Dances start promptly. Attendance at all dances is expected. The grade level Chairperson must be called before the dance when a student is not able to attend the dance. An absence will only be excused upon the receipt of a written excuse. Written excuses are to be sent to the student’s grade chairperson. Attendance
at Cotillion is one factor in considering admission to Assembly.
Students will not be permitted to leave the dance unless accompanied by a chaperone or parent. We ask that students be picked up on time.
Parents will be contacted if a participant is ill, unmanageable, violates the dress code or displays inappropriate behavior.
Once a student is accepted into Cotillion (receives a formal invitation), there will be no refunds.
The Cotillion Committee reserves the right to dismiss any student who repeatedly disrupts instruction.
Last, but not least, we expect participants to have a great time with their friends!
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