Before the Bidding: SM East parent Sara Stein’s “Sorority Savvy” class helps East and St. Teresa’s Academy seniors prepare for rush season

Forty girls in pastel and floral sundresses filled six rows of black chairs inside Mission Hills Country Club. The girls all faced forward and listened as SM East parent Sara Stein stood at the front of the room explaining what various “sorority slang” words meant.

Stein, the owner of Modern Etiquette Made Easy — a company that offers numerous etiquette classes, ranging from preschool lunchroom etiquette to tips for landing a job — was teaching a Sorority Savvy class to East and St. Teresa’s Academy seniors. After teaching a cotillion class three years ago, her interest in working with kids in a classroom setting grew, inspiring her to launch Modern Etiquette Made Easy last year.

With the pressure of first impressions and perfectly worded conversations during rush season, Stein created her Sorority Savvy class to help seniors feel confident and prepared for the process.

During the 90-minute session, she walked students through the “dos and don’ts” of rush week, how to create resumes and recruitment videos, conversation tips and even what to pack in their rush bags — all aimed at making the recruitment experience less intimidating and more approachable.

“I love teaching all of them,” Stein said. “Just to see the confidence that I hopefully can share and instill in these girls, so that they get out there and crush it and shine, makes me so pleased.”

After attending the class, senior Maggie Wells noticed how welcoming and outgoing Stein was. According to Wells, Stein already knew half the girls through her son, but made an effort to learn the names of the girls she hadn’t met before.

Since Wells is going to the University of Georgia — a school known for its intense and competitive recruiting process — she needed to learn the acronyms for “potential new member” and “letter of support.”

“I was kind of nervous going into [the class] because I just didn’t really know what to expect,” Wells said. “I also didn’t know if I was wearing the right clothes, but everyone was just wearing dresses, and it was honestly a lot more chill than I was envisioning.”

After Stein’s introduction, the girls asked two current sorority members at the University of Kansas questions they had about the process.

For senior Evie Ordonez, the Q&A portion was the highlight of the class. A freshman and junior walked the group through what rush week looks like at KU, with open houses, charity events, sisterhood and Bid Day.

“I got to learn a lot about what my actual rush experience is going to be like when I go to KU,” Ordonez said. “Hearing about what you do each day, the order in which it goes and what to wear were just things that I thought I knew, but I really didn’t.”

Last spring, Stein held three different sorority prep classes, each with just three to five girls. Word of mouth boosted interest in her business, and this year’s class was overbooked — prompting a 40-person limit.

“This year I thought, ‘Why don’t I do this in a classroom setting and open it up to more people?’” Stein said. “And this is going to be the format moving forward because it was so fun for the girls to meet others from schools in the area that they didn’t know before, [that] are maybe going to the same university.”

To help girls become more “sorority savvy,” Stein added a local videographer, the KU students and partnerships with two brands: Scoobie and Drybar.

Scoobie, a Prairie Village boutique, offered the girls stylish, yet comfortable outfits, suitable for sorority events like philanthropy day and sisterhood. Meanwhile, Drybar, a hair-care franchise, provided humidity-friendly hairstyle tips and product suggestions to keep the girls’ hairstyles intact throughout rush week.

“I have the most puffy, annoying hair ever,” senior Francie Garrison said. “And especially with the heat, I cannot handle that. So, having those little products that they showed us would be so helpful.”

Garrison appreciated other tips as well, like ensuring that your Instagram handle is easily identifiable for houses and avoiding wearing linen, as it wrinkles easily. She also learned the importance of creating a high-quality rush video that leaves a lasting impression on sorority houses.

“It’s so relieving to have a group of girls who are going through rush at the same time as you,” Garrison said. “Mrs. Stein is one of the closest moms that I know, so it was just really cool to hear her talk about a topic she’s passionate about. It’s comforting to hear someone that’s an outside perspective, for the rush stuff, and for life in general. I love Sara.”