(upbeat music) - Welcome friends to this episode of the "Everyday Educator" podcast. I'm your host, Lisa Bailey, and I'm excited to spend some time with you today as we encourage one another, learn together, and ponder the delights and challenges that make homeschooling the adventure of a lifetime. Whether you're just considering this homeschooling possibility, or deep into the daily delight of family learning, I believe you will enjoy thinking along with us.

But don't forget, although this online community is awesome, you will find even closer support in a local CC community. So, go to classicalconversations.com and find a community near you today. All right, welcome listeners. I'm so excited to be here with you today. To talk about the finer things in life.

And by that, I mean protocol. We are getting into the middle of our second semester. Many of our challenge classes are on the cusp of big projects. We've got challenge beers working on mock trial. We have students writing short stories and doing debates. And our challenge two classes are turning their eyes toward protocol.

And so today, we wanna talk a little bit about what is protocol? Maybe, what is it not? How can we as parents and directors and tutors help our students enjoy protocol? And I have just the person who's gonna help us out with some thoughts and some ideas. Deb Switzer is here today.

Deb, thank you so much for coming. - Thanks for having me, I'm excited. - Well, Deb is one of our academic advisors. And so she provides a lot of support for directors of challenges two, three, and four all over the world. And so Deb has probably heard every question there is about protocol.

And so we're gonna see how many of your questions we can anticipate and answer today. So Deb, I wanna start out at the very beginning. I remember when we joined CC years and years ago, I had little kids. So I had a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old and protocol was not even a twinkle in my eye then.

In fact, I remember seeing a book in the CC bookstore called Protocol Matters. And the only thing I knew about protocol was from my years in college, as a political science major, I knew all about diplomatic protocols and legal protocols. And I thought, what in the world can this be?

So let's start there at the very beginning. In CC world, what does protocol mean? - Right, so protocol's really just a formal event that's celebrating the Western cultural arts. And so it's a time for students to get involved with culture and practice culture, fine dining and the arts. It's a formal dinner and a cultural event that the challenge community can celebrate together and just practice.

We can be in the mission field, but we also might be before Kings one day. And so to be able to know how to act and practice that self-control and that etiquette is a beautiful gift that we offer to our students in the challenge program. - You know what, that was the best, most succinct explanation of protocol I have ever heard.

I'm glad we got it on a recording. I really appreciated what you said about encouraging our students to understand the cultural arts, the Western cultural arts, what has been important historically in how do we conduct ourselves at cultural events? How do we conduct ourselves in fine dining so that we know what would be expected of us in any situation?

You know, we wanna be good ambassadors for Christ wherever we go. And sometimes knowing the right thing to do and how to do it and what to say and when to speak and when not to speak is really important and can open doors for us as witnesses wherever we go.

So I really appreciate that. And I love it that you said, I mean, you used some of those words, manners and etiquette and you know, as parents, we do want to teach our children. We want to pass on the how to act, how to treat other people. I heard one time somebody say that protocol is about learning how to love your neighbor well, whoever your neighbor is and wherever you might meet them and whatever you might be doing.

And I thought, you know, that's really true. And I remember my husband talking about when he went to his prom, I guess as like a junior or senior in high school and his family had not done a lot of fine dining. And so he shows up with some of his buddies and all their dates to a fancy restaurant.

The girls are dressed in long dresses and they are all trying to act, you know, old and super sophisticated. He had never been to a restaurant where they bring your bill to the table and then take your payment. And he said, so he was mortified. They all were mortified when they went traipsing around the restaurant trying to find the kiosk to pay.

And he was mortified because he said, my parents didn't tell me that I might face a situation where you pay at the table. And so at that point, I thought, you know, I want my girls as they grow up to know how to act in every situation just so they're not embarrassed.

And so that's a great reason to do protocol. - It is. And it's such a, again, it's a gift to our, it's a gift to our kids, right? So how many funny movies are there out there where like they look at the table setting and they don't know which fork to use.

Everybody's mortified. But instead of that being a fear to give them the ability to practice this, 'cause, you know, let's face it, as homeschool moms, I'm not laying out a formal dinner for my kids every week and having them practice what fork to use, or we may not be sitting down and listening to classical music every evening, although I would love to do that.

I don't think that that doesn't actually happen. We traipse off to a basketball game. And so this is really an amazing opportunity for them to celebrate the culture and the arts and fine dining and to not have it be the unknown or to have it be an awkward moment.

They can really engage and learn together and they get to learn with their friends, which is much better. - Which is always more fun. That's right. They love that part. And I really like that for a lot of our families, it is a great way to introduce your student and their friends to past times that they may not get a lot of.

Most of us maybe don't go to the symphony very often or don't go to an opera, maybe ever. And so it is an introduction both to something you're unfamiliar with, but also it can be an introduction to something that your student might find a passion for. That's a great thing.

- Right. There's so many of our talent students who love the arts, right? They do dance or they do theater. They play in an orchestra. And so there's so many opportunities to share that love and that passion with your fellow students in class and be like, hey, we actually, I do this.

This is something that I love to do. And you can share that love with your friends, which is a great thing to do as well. - I love it that it is a community event and that you don't do it just with your family. I mean, you do it with other people your age who maybe know as much or as little as you do about some of these things.

So we've probably touched on a lot of the way you will answer this question, but I wanna ask it right out for you. Why does Classical Conversations think that protocol is worthy of attention from teenagers and families and communities? Because let's face it, we're homeschoolers. We're all busy. We're all stretched thin.

Many of us are living on one income. So we don't have lots of extra money to throw around. And yet, and yet, this seems to be really important. Why does CeCe think protocol is so important? - Well, if we think about what classical education really is and that we are developing the whole human being, right?

We are trying to see what makes us more human. We don't wanna eliminate the arts and culture because of a cost reason or just because that can be put to the side. That's not what we, we really wanna develop the whole human being just like we look at language, just like we're looking at math, whatever it is that we're looking at.

Classical Conversations is not trying to develop just portions or fragments of a student's education. We're trying to develop the whole human experience. And so this is just one portion of that, but it's an important portion. And it's a portion that can become a milestone memory for the students as well.

And so we wanna develop that entire human being, including the cultural arts and knowing that those are important. - Oh, I love that. I love that so much that protocol, we need to change the way we're thinking about it. I know that for a lot of families in our community, when my girls were in challenge, protocol was extra.

And some people thought of it as an extra drain on their time. And some people thought of it as an extra expense, but it was definitely in their minds extra. And so that meant it's in addition to, it's just outside of what we're teaching our children, but I love what you said.

It is part of teaching our students to be fully human, to fully embrace all of the parts of what a beauty and truth and goodness that God has made us able to apprehend. And so the appreciation of beauty and in sound and in movement is really important. And so I love that.

And I also love the whole perspective. I think I said that somebody else taught me that protocol and learning good manners is a way to love your neighbor better. It's a way to learn how to treat people with grace and kindness and dignity and importance. And so young men, when you learn to pull out the chair of the lady seated next to you, it does not mean you think she is incapable of pulling out her own chair, okay?

It is showing that you are caring for your dinner companion and that you are trying to help her have a happy experience. And young lady, when you talk to people on your left and on your right, you are doing your part to make sure everyone feels included in the conversation.

It really is a way to love your neighbor best. - Yeah, it's a way to love your neighbor. It's also a way to understand just a sense of dignity in our humanity. I think sometimes, especially as teenagers, I think we can get super casual with our friends. We can get super casual with our families and we can get super casual with ourselves as well.

And to take a moment to say, hey, I am created in the image of God and I can, and all those things obviously can still be in the image of God, but more of, I can practice this self-control. I can enjoy this moment. I can elevate my conversation. And those moments help us understand just a sense of dignity that we have in being created by God.

And I love that part of protocol as well. - I do too. This is making me wish that maybe I'll go volunteer to be a chaperone at Protocol 'cause I miss it. I miss it, that elevated. - Everybody's always looking for volunteers. - I know, everybody's always looking for volunteers.

You're right. But that elevated behavior, that gracious living. And you know what? When you are in a different environment and when your students are in a more formal environment, I think it does cause them to pause and reflect and think more carefully about their conversation and about their behavior and reflect on the finer things in life.

That's really good. - And it also kind of, I'm sorry, just it helps them recognize the difference between pop culture and Western cultural emphasis. You know, there's such an emphasis on pop culture, which is widespread. It's all over media. It's all over the internet. It's what we engage in almost on a daily basis, right?

We're engaging in pop culture, which is a very familiar, but to step back and say, let's engage in a different type of culture, the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Western culture. I think that's a beautiful moment for the students as well. And to note the difference between the two.

- Yes, yes. We teach them to compare things. This is a great way, Deb, you're right. It's a great way to compare the culture that they participate in without thinking every day. And a culture that perhaps calls them to consider before acting or speaking and to temper even their thoughts through the lens of the search for truth, beauty, and goodness.

That's really, really good. I also think there are some very much tangible skills that our students gain from participating in protocol. I mean, you do understand what fine dining calls for. You may, your student may grow up and go to a scholarship interview or a job interview or be called upon to attend a banquet as a newly hired worker.

And you want them to have the skills of gracious living such that they can comport themselves without awkwardness and with ease and actually enjoy the experience. So that they know, like you said, which fork to use and which course is coming first and what to do with your napkin and how to talk, how to have polite conversation with people you don't know well.

- Yes, and how to dress for different occasions. - Yeah. - So it's interesting. You even mentioned the college interview, but when we do a protocol event, we ask students to dress up, right? And depending on the event, it might be a different kind of dress, but that same thing happens.

I remember my daughter thought that jeans were appropriate for an interview. - Right. - With a nice shirt and jeans. And I was like, well, actually, we need to know that we have to elevate our dress just like we might be elevating our dining experience or elevating our conversation.

And so I think it's important for students to know what type of dress is appropriate. - Yes. - That's an important skill to learn. - Yes. - And how do we know that skill, so. - Yes, and it's actually really great to practice walking in higher heels or how to sit down when you have on a dress instead of jeans.

- Yes, right. - For young men, how to tie a tie or what do you do with your suit coat during dinner? Do you keep it on? Do you take it out? Oft, if you're wearing a hat, is it appropriate to wear it inside? All of these things give our students a reason to practice things that might not be familiar, but you don't want them to be utterly unknown to your student.

And you brought out the best point, 'cause yes, I get it. We can all, as parents, teach those skills and those attitudes to our children at home, but our children are much more open to learning it and happier to learn it if their friends are along. - Yes, it's now they want to do it, right?

- Yes. - Whereas before it might be like, oh, mom's making me do it. - Right, it's like, oh, you have to use the fancy dishes. Yeah. - Yes. - But it's fun. - With your friends, yeah. And who doesn't want to do something like that with their friends?

- Yeah. And even the students, I will tell you this, even the students that complain most loudly, secretly enjoy what it's like to get dressed up and go somewhere special. - They do. And it's, you know, I mean, for some, it's definitely a stretch. They're out of their comfort zone.

And honestly, that's another skill that is excellent for our students to be learning as well. When we are put in that position where it's not comfortable, where we have to stretch our minds and what we would normally do, but instead we jump in and be part and participate. This is something that helps them just build inner strength as well, to be able to be in situations that aren't comfortable and to learn how to thrive and to interact and to make others feel comfortable as well is a beautiful skill.

- It is a beautiful skill. And one that as parents or even directors, we might not think of right away, but it is a skill that pays dividends for years and years and years. How to become comfortable in situations that call you outside of yourself and outside of your comfort zone.

That's really good. So, okay. So now we're all convinced that protocol is a wonderful thing. Who is it for? We have all these listeners who are now thinking, my child's gonna do protocol. Is it for everybody? Talk to us about that. - Sure. So Challenge 2 is the planner or the leader of the protocol event.

And so it is a Challenge 2 event. It's their capstone event because it culminates all of the Western cultural history that they've been studying. All the art and all of the music. And so it's a great final moment for the Challenge 2 community. That being said, they may include those other challenge classes, Challenge 1, Challenge 3, Challenge 4, if they like, and have them participate with them, but it's led and started and planned by the Challenge 2 community to emphasize those conversations.

- I like that. I think that it is a beautiful integration of all of the things that they've been studying. The skills that they have been working on up to this point of their roughly sophomore year of high school. And then like you said, it's the music that they've been studying and the art that they have been studying.

The things that they have been exposed to has already given them a taste for Western cultural pursuits. And so protocol is just a way to celebrate that. And that's why you're right. That's why it's the capstone for Challenge 2. So I know that there are lots of communities that have been chagrined.

They heard, "Oh, protocols now, it's just for Challenge 2." We want the Challenge 2 classes, the parents, directors, and students to be the linchpins of that. But we want others, because, okay, if you only have three people in your Challenge 2 class, it might not be as much fun to go out to a fancy dinner or a play with just two other people and a couple of chaperones.

And so if you wanted to invite other one, three, and four students and tutors, and maybe parents to go with you, that gives you a bigger group. And a lot of times a bigger group is a fun group. So yeah, other people, other challenges are open. I mean, you can open that up.

- Sure, and I think every community is unique. And I think that Classical Conversations appreciates that and promotes that. And so there will be, for some communities, having it be just a Challenge 2 event on its own helps budget, it helps being able to plan a smaller event, and that works great.

And for some communities, the Challenge 2 community could plan the event and invite other Challenge students to go with them, and that works for their community. And I think that's what we want. We wanna see communities thriving and doing this event in a way that works for them. We just really wanna ensure as well, though, that we're getting that, it's the purpose of it.

The original intent was to celebrate those cultural events, right? To talk about culture. I just had a funny conversation with my students 'cause we're in the midst of planning it. And I said, "Hey guys, I just want you to know "that this is about the cultural event "that you're going to be going to.

"So I expect you guys to engage your peers about the arts. "I expect you to lead the way. "I expect you to try to have conversation "about what we're viewing and what we're attending "so that it's, you're the lead "'cause you're to practice the skills "and the things that we've been learning." And so they're like, "Oh, okay." They're like, "Hmm." I was like, "Yeah, so instead of Marvel, "I want you to talk about the theater." - Yes, stretch yourself, stretch yourself.

That's exactly right. Move outside of your comfort zone. Just like you said a few minutes ago, stretch yourself. You can do this. And students who begin practicing, learning how to do it and practicing it when they're still in high school have a easier time as adults. And it seems more natural to them.

I've watched that happen for years and years. My own daughters have graduated already and have graduated college. And I've tutored lots of kids through the years. And I see how this early training in a culture that's not everyday culture has helped put some polish on them and given them some comfort with things that are graceful.

So, okay. So what are the elements of protocol? You and I have been talking about symphonies and plays and operas and going to see maybe museums with great works of art and fine dining. What are the elements of protocol? If I'm a challenge to director and I'm just hearing us talk about it now, what is it that I need to think that needs to be part of our event?

- Right. And so one of the things that you're gonna be deciding very early is who's going to be attending because buying tickets or going somewhere with a smaller group versus a larger group is gonna direct where you're going. So planning who's going to be attending in your community and choosing your venues.

So where are we going to be eating? Is this going to be a fine, like for budget? Maybe we're going to have the dinner be a fine dining experience at someone's home on Fine China. And then we go out and go to a theater experience or a symphony so that we try to keep the budget down.

So you wanna start thinking through like, what is our budget? How much can people afford? What venues will we be going through? And then what are we going to be doing to practice? Like the practice manners, are we going to just kind of throw them in there and say, good luck and see how it goes?

- That does not go well. That does not go well. - Are we gonna have conversations ahead of time? Are we ensuring that the Challenge 2 students, like I just said, are aware that we are leading a conversation about the arts as we're there? Not in a formal, like this is a five common topic conversation about the arts, but across dinner, how would you actually have a conversation about the arts?

And then thinking through chaperones, transportation, how are you going to get there? Those are all things that we wanna put in our minds as we start planning and thinking through the elements of it. - That is very helpful. That is very helpful. You touched on a lot of things.

And I would encourage planners to think, okay, Deb has a good point. How big is my group? If you're trying to take 60 people to a symphony, you're gonna have trouble finding, unless you planned way in advance, you're gonna probably have trouble finding seats together. And so you have to consider that.

And you also have to consider transportation. A lot of fine dining restaurants are not as big as the cafeteria. So you have to think about when to go and how to break that down even. And price, you need to think about all the elements. So you wanna find dining experience.

You want some kind of cultural event. I love that you brought up practicing. I've talked to directors before who have parents in, the parents of some of the students host practice sessions where they talk to the students about the place settings. And they put all of the pieces out there, probably more pieces than will be at the restaurant on protocol night.

But all of the things, they tell them where to place their napkin, how to pull out their partner's chair. Like you said, how to start a conversation about the arts or about the performance. We're about to enjoy and they bring in people who will model that good behavior for them.

- That's great. Parents helping out with this is so important. It's such a blessing to the Challenge II directors as well. I know Challenge II directors are already trying to fit so much into the community day and they're probably going, how on earth am I going to talk about manners in the middle of doing policy or whatever it might be?

- It really doesn't fit well into your day, into your community day. Your community day is so full. - It is. And so to have parents who do what you just said, we had the same thing in our community that host a manners night and they bring everybody up and they have a nice formal dinner and just talk about how do you pull out a chair well.

And it doesn't have to be elaborate. - Somebody on with a coat or off with a coat. When do you clap at the symphony and when do you not clap at the symphony? You know, if opera is in a language you can't understand, is there any help for you?

And there always is, but knowing that going in can help you enjoy the experience a little bit more. - Right, and again, it's taking that fear away that we talked about earlier. You know, that fear of like, I'm not gonna know what to do when I get there. And so that chance to practice and some communities get that time and some communities don't and it shouldn't stop us from having a protocol of that.

- Exactly, we can all have a practice together. - You know, we can practice, we can practice at home. We can have, parents can have conversations at home depending on how your community works, right? But ultimately to have that support come in from a family to be able to say, "Hey, we could practice." That's lovely, right?

- It is lovely. - It just helps get things prepared and helps get the mindset right for the protocol event. - But I really appreciate the reminder that if you are a director and you don't have a parent step in and offer to host a practice, that is not a reason to forego protocol.

Here's the truth. You can enlist some chaperones that you know have good manners or have practice in fine dining or in cultural arts experiences. And it has happened before with classes that I have been the chaperone with that the chaperone will lead the way. So if you sit down and there are too many forks and as a student, you don't know what to do.

If the students know they can look to the chaperone and the chaperone will not in a call attention to their confusion way, but in a natural way, pick up the correct fork and spoon the soup the correct way. It's very helpful. - Oh yes, it's like on the job training, right?

And so you're sitting there and like, who do I watch? Who's going to model for me? If I don't know ahead of time, there's always someone that you can watch and just kind of side glance to. - Yeah, exactly. - Well, how is she doing that? Or how is he doing that?

And, you know, if we mess up too, I think that that's important for students to know as well. You know, oh no, I dropped my roll and it's rolling across the floor. - And how to help that student gracefully recover from that. - Exactly. - How to deflect attention away from the dropped spoon or the spilled iced tea, you know?

- Right, it's gonna happen. And if it happens, then we learn how to handle that with grace and with not embarrassing someone, but, you know, making someone feel comfortable. What a beautiful gift that can be to a person. - And really that is the point of protocol, right? Making sure that you yourself can be comfortable, but making the ones who are with you comfortable in the situation.

A lot of times our students may graduate and go on to situations where they may be the only one in their peer group who does know how to gracefully move through different kinds of experiences. And what a joy if we have raised students who know how to act and know how to gracefully, helpfully bring their friends along.

That's a great thing. So talk to me about some of the things that you've heard, 'cause I know as an academic advisor, you have talked to tons of challenge to communities and tons of challenge parents that have done a whole lot of different things for protocol. What are some suggestions that you've heard about or even some of the ones you've attended yourself?

- Yeah, so I can speak first to my own community. We've had some wonderful events planned. We've gone to the symphony. We've heard a score done like live to a film. So that was interesting. - Oh, that's cool. - Yeah, and then we've also done a, it was a like a fine dance where it was learning the, learning how to do like the real and the country English dance, like the type of dances.

- Oh my goodness. Like in some of the novels that they read in challenge too. - Yes, like in "Pride and Prejudice". So it was an integration of the culture in "Pride and Prejudice" and having them learn how to do those. Like, so we did fine dining and then they learned how to do the real and the English country dance and all those fun regency dances.

And so depending on the year and what your community might like to do, I know that this year we're going to see a theater presentation. So we're going to, it's called "The Thorn" and it's a theater and dance presentation of the gospel. So that was a new thing that came into.

So we'll see how that goes. That's the first time doing this one. But so live theater, the symphony, the opera, all of these things are excellent opportunities. I know of another community that took their students to, you already go to the museum for challenge too, but they went to a museum and as they finished their museum, there was live music in the museum.

And so they went around and walked in their lovely evening wear. They walked around and saw art and then they sat and listened to a live piano presentation at the museum afterwards. And that was their event. So it depends on the area that you're in and what you can find.

But we're trying to have it be about culture, not about pop culture. And I think that that's the difference is that we want it to be a cultural experience, not a pop culture. So, going to the latest Taylor Swift concert does not- - That does not qualify. - Really hit the moment of what we're trying to do here.

So just making sure that we're looking at the fine arts versus pop culture. - That is an awesome reminder. Thank you very much for that reminder. That's very important. And you mentioned that I love the idea of learning some of the dances like from "Pride and Prejudice." And our community also has rotated through a lot of that.

And they don't do a dance every year, but maybe every third year. So that once while the students are in attendance, in the attendance age zone, they might get some of that dance. And then we try to mix it up so that they get some symphony, some theater, maybe a ballet, and maybe some quote-unquote practical dancing, some dance dancing that they can do.

I know that from the fine dining standpoint, it really does depend on what's available to you. It may be that you're in an area where there aren't a lot of fine dining restaurants or in an area where there are lots and they're so expensive that nobody can bear that cost.

You mentioned earlier that perhaps a family would host a class for a formal dinner. - Absolutely. So I think it's nice to be able to obviously consider the budget, right? And then if you have a family who has, and you have a tendency to do like a challenge one to challenge more protocol event that they might have multiple children who are attending this event.

So being considerate of the budget is a gift to families. So asking around, your community is an amazing resource to you. So finding out what families might be willing to- - Contribute. - Yeah, host, contribute. Do you know somebody who is a musician who has an in to a concert that we could attend?

There's so many resources that end up popping up that you never even knew existed in your community. - And I will. Go ahead. - Yeah, go ahead. No, I was just gonna say, that's just the beauty of it is that we can help each other, that we don't have to be alone.

This challenge to director is not sitting there on her or his own saying, I have to do all of this that there's a community to support, right? I will tell you that many fine restaurants and many concert masters and conductors and directors of theater productions are very excited about bringing a new generation of patron of the arts up to speed.

And so a lot of times an asking will gain you an early tickets to an early performance or a special session with the conductor before the symphony concert begins. Some restaurants, if you go midweek and you will go earlier like at five or 5.30, they will set aside. And if you will accept a set meal that they help you to choose, it brings the cost down considerably.

People are excited when young people are interested in the arts and they will work with you a lot of times. - That's so good. And I just have that scripture, you have not because you ask not going through my mind. And when we just go out there and ask, God just makes a way for so many amazing things in our lives and he goes before us.

And so to just ask, say, would you be willing to host this group of students and the amazing responses that we get so often, so many people have testimonies of being able to do an event for free because they just, they ask, right? - Right, somebody said, oh yeah, we will give you 30 free tickets to this performance.

It is an amazing blessing because you are right. You said a minute ago, protocol can get expensive and you want to be hospitable to all of the families within your community. You mentioned also the girls like, especially the girls, now the boys dress up, but they don't like it as well sometimes.

The girls want to dress up. And so you have families that are maybe putting out for a new dress or new shoes or a hairdo or a manicure or whatever. I would encourage your community to get together and the moms in the community to get together and kind of settle on, what are we going to do?

If you know that some people can afford to shoot the moon and some people are on a very restricted budget, it might be kindness to say, we're going to, for this protocol, we're going to wear Sunday morning church clothes, okay? We're not going to wear long dresses and we're not going to go anywhere super expensive, or we are going to take in a matinee performance and then go to an early dinner.

There are ways to buffer the cost. And I have heard, Deb, I don't know if you've heard this, I've heard of some communities where the students might even do a fundraiser that helps defray the cost of protocol for the whole class. - Yeah, it's definitely, I was just going to say that, there are many fundraisers that happen or people hold different events as a fundraiser that just helps eliminate the costs completely.

So it depends on, as the earlier you start planning, the earlier you can start doing the fundraising and then you have a pot of finances to pull from and be able to bring the costs down for families, which again is a blessing. And it also requires the work, right?

So you have to do the work of the fundraising. But often communities like to pitch in for that and to see that kind of teamwork come forth to be able to have that event. And it shows that it's important, that it's a priority. - That's exactly right. - That we aren't just going to like do it last minute, but instead that we're building up to this because we believe it's important and we believe that this cultural event is a milestone in your education.

- That's really good. That's a great reminder. Okay, we're coming to the end of our time together, I want to give you a chance. I know that as a director and probably as a parent, you have seen more than one protocol. Are there any funny or touching memories that you have or that you've heard about protocol?

- There are so many. I think just the kids themselves, watching them interact, watching them attempt to, you know, act with this at a new level of dignity, I guess. But they also, I know for us specifically, when we did the Regency dance and watching how they had to switch partners all the time, right?

And so it wasn't just us putting a circle around the dance floor and jumping up and down. And, but it was like, they had to learn how to have another partner and move around the dance floor with other partners and ask for someone's hand to dance and just these different things.

But the interactions of the kids to be able to interact with somebody that they've never interacted with before and get to know other students was beautiful. And I loved the element of that in one of our protocol events. I also loved watching students almost gasp at times when there was this beautiful piece of music.

- Yes. - And it just kind of took their breath away. And they went, "Ah!" 'Cause the soloist was just stunning in what she did on the violin and the way that she performed. And to hear that right next to you as a chaperone and you hear that gasp, like, "Ah, that was beautiful." - Yeah.

- That is, just those moments of appreciating the beauty is just, it's just lovely. - You're giving me chills. I love it when I catch the expression on a kid's face who really did not wanna go to the symphony and they are transfixed by what's happening and then transported to some other plane by the beauty of the music.

They really, maybe for the first time, felt how someone's passion for playing or singing is used as a vehicle for connecting with what is truly beautiful. And it's saying, it makes the soul sing. It is a soul connection. And to see those students realize that that experience exists and that it's open to them and that they can participate in it is beautiful.

- It is. And then, of course, you're gonna have on the other end, I just have to say someone like my son, who said, "This is gonna be the best nap I've ever taken." - Oh, my word. Yes. - Somebody's like trying to keep himself awake through the classical music, 'cause, you know.

And so you have on one side, somebody who's like, and then you have on the other side, the guy's like starting to fall asleep. And it's just hilarious to see, you know, the process that kids go through. But all of those, like my son now, he's graduated college, and he would just say like all of those things have made him a better person as he's watching.

- There you go. - He loves and appreciates the arts now. He truly does. And he would just say, "That was the most expensive nap I've ever taken." - Well, it's so funny. But at least he'll never be able to say that he's never been to a concert like that before.

- And he loves it now. So that's great as well. But it's just funny the way that, you know, at our different stages of life, but we're introducing it, right? So we're gonna have the funny moments, you know, the spilled drink, or the nap at the concert, or the beautiful moments where they're interacting and they're seeing the beauty of all of that music.

- Yep, yep. Protocol is a great introduction to the finer things of life that our students may not appreciate fully right away, but that's what an introduction is all about. It's a shaking hands. It is a first acquaintance for many of them with something that they may grow to appreciate more and more.

Deb, thank you so much for talking to me about protocol. And I feel like our listeners have benefited from what you had to say. I really appreciate you. - Yes, thank you so much. I hope everyone has an amazing protocol. - Yes, I know. And that you fall in love with art and music in a whole new way.

And speaking of art, I wanna talk to you guys about the Delightful Art Company. I don't know if you have heard about Delightful Arts before, but it is a great way to learn about a lot of stuff while you are participating in art. They are art integrated classes that allow you to transform learning into an experience that combines academics and creativity.

Delightful Art has classes for all ages. If you are interested, you should definitely go to www.delightfulartcompany.com and find out about the classes that are available for the summer and for the fall. And here's the deal, Classical Conversations families get $10 off any live class with a coupon code, okay?

Here's the coupon code, C-C-F-A-M-10-O-F-F. So all the letters are capitals and the 10 is digits. So it's C-C-F-A-M-1-0-O-F-F. So go to www.delightfulartcompany.com and find out about this awesome opportunity. Listeners, go enjoy some fine dining and some conversations about Western cultural arts and Deb and I will be glad. Thanks for listening and I'll see you guys next week.

Bye-bye. (upbeat music) you