ST. ANDREWS - Grade 12 student Nick Kohler won't be stuffing his face at fancy dinners anymore. He says he has learned to appreciate the event and company as much as the food.

Kohler and seven other students were invited to the Fairmont Algonquin hotel for three days this week to be a part of two pilot projects started by local business leaders.

In one project, Chandra Leavitt was testing out her life coaching skills with the LEAP program, which helps guide youths in the right direction and realize their potential, their goals and how to achieve them.

In the other project, John Remer was launching his new course Out Class the Competition, which teaches people social skills such as how to shake hands properly, which water glass to drink from and how to make proper eye contact.

Eight students from Sir James Dunn Academy in St. Andrews were the lucky winners of the free three-day training session.

With his napkin on his lap and his glass raised for a toast, Kohler said the three days were eye-opening.

"Today was the biggest learning experience for me because I learned I am not eating right," said Kohler.

"My family is proper and I have to look around the table to know what to do. I was just digging in and going for it and excluding myself from conversation because I was more focused on food than the social event."

The students sat around the fine dining tables at the Fairmont Algonquin in their finest attire as they listened to the tips given by Remer.

As they fumbled with their spoons and looked questionably at the orange soup in their bowls, he told them the proper way to eat soup was to sip from the side of the spoon.

"If you don't know what to do with the personal menus, you can just put them to the side or even fold them up and put them in your pocket," Remer told the students as they followed suit.

Remer said the program was created to make youths and adults more attune to social do's and don't in North America and across the world.

"These soft skills show your personality. (They show) that you have respect for yourself and for other people. The nice thing about learning these skills is they become automatic. If you go to lunch you don't have to worry about which water glass is yours or what to do, so that you can focus on the business at hand," said Remer.

"People do not invite you to lunch because they think you are hungry."

Remer said the skills will give the students a special touch that will put them ahead of other students they are competing with and will give them an extra something to offer employers.

He plans to market his courses to corporate executives and business graduates that will need the skills to mingle properly in certain social circles.

While Remer taught the students how to act properly, Leavitt said she was helping them to search their souls and guide their lives in the right direction.

She said she decided to offer the courses because when she looks back at her life, she wishes she knew then what she knows now so she wouldn't have had such a struggle.

The second reason she started her business was because after several years in the school system, she saw students being told what to do with their lives and following the direction of others instead of following their natural talents.

She said that has led to many people being unhappy in their careers.

"As a life coach, I love working with teens. And I think it's important that they learn the strategies and tools in their life to create clarity from the very beginning, as opposed to stumbling through a bunch of fog until they are 30 or 40," said Leavitt.

Grade 12 student Jenna Garnett said she learned to be more open with how she feels and open up.

"Basically I want to be more positive about life and it will help me achieve more. If I'm positive about things, it will encourage me to want more and do more," said Garnett.

"It opened me up more and helped me bring out more of the things I already had."