Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
January 18, 2007 issue
Welch Named Junior Cotillion Director for Avery and Watauga
Christina Welch has been appointed as the new director for the National League of Junior Cotillions, Avery and Watauga County Chapters.
Welch earned a BA from Wingate University, an MA in counseling from Appalachian State University and an advanced counseling degree from UNC-Greensboro. She was Mrs. North Carolina 2006 and won the Life Leadership Award at the Mrs. Globe Pageant. She serves as the secretary for the Boone Service League, as a Red Cross mental health disaster response volunteer, as the Chi Omega new member advisor and as state spokesperson for Women In Need and RAISE. Welch and her husband John have one child and are members of 1st Presbyterian Church
The National League of Junior Cotillions program, which features character education, etiquette and social dance training for sixth through eighth grade students, includes five classes and two balls over an eight-month period. The purpose of the National League of Junior Cotillions program is to give students instruction in ballroom dance and practice in the social courtesies needed for better relationships with their family and friends.
Students actively learn life skills through a creative method employing role-playing, skits and games. The social behavior component ranges from rules of conversation to formal and informal table manners. In addition to the usual courtesies connected with dancing, etiquette instruction is also provided for acknowledgment of gifts, behavior at cultural and civic events, correspondence, interaction in groups, introductions, paying and receiving compliments, receiving lines, sportsmanship and sports etiquette, instructional dinners, telephone courtesy and many other areas of social conduct.
The National League of Junior Cotillions setting will encourage children to be comfortable together, to make new friends and to enjoy themselves. Communication skills learned by young ladies and gentlemen in a peer group setting provide graduating students with increased confidence and poise in social situations.
The National League of Junior Cotillions is headquartered in Charlotte, where the program was established in 1979. There are now over 400 chapters in 33 states across the country, involving thousands of students.
Executive Director Anne Colvin Winters said, “We are delighted to see cotillion training expand in the Watauga County area. It has had a great impact on the self-esteem and social development of young people across the nation.”
If you would like to know more about the program, call Welch at 828-963-6221, the National Headquarters at 1-800-633-7947 or click to www.nljc.com.