By the night of the ball, the girls will have devoted at least seven of the past 10 weekends to preparations. The debutante process and cotillion is sponsored by the local chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Many of the debutantes will wear actual wedding gowns, as elaborate as those pictured in bridal magazines. Some of their parents may feel like they've spent enough to get a daughter married.

The couples will glide along the dance floor of the Holiday Inn Select in Central Park, as about 400 friends and family members watch from the sidelines.

Twenty girls wearing jeans and sneakers are gathered in the cafeteria of Chancellor High School in mid-September. There's a lot of talking among the girls until Clintina Hankerson gets ready to start.

Tall and thin, Hankerson is one of those teachers who speaks softly when she wants attention. She's not about to scream above the noise generated by teenagers.

When she explains the minuet to the girls, she tells them they'll have to curtsy several times during the dance. Everyone watches when she demonstrates.

She puts one foot forward and bends both knees with ease. Just as gracefully, she lowers her upper body, almost to the ground, as if the queen of England had entered the room.

The debutantes have the limber bodies of 17- and 18-year-olds, but they shake when they try to strike this pose. Some of the girls are cheerleaders and field hockey players, but they look like they'll topple over on the floor.

The group members are fairly quiet during a 90-minute discussion of table manners. They listen as Denise Christopher-Millner of Baltimore goes over dozens of social dos and don'ts.

Everyone should sit straight in their chairs. No elbows on the table. Start with the appetizer fork--the one farthest away--and work your way toward the plate.

This time, the group is in the Chancellor High library. Their chairs are arranged in a circle between the biographies and a Thanksgiving display with Brunswick stew.

One table is set with seven servings, another with four. Sorority members who introduce the etiquette speaker tell the teens they'll be able to sit down and eat with the president of the United States after they complete this class.

Fortunately, there's not a test because there's a lot of talking between courses. The members must be paying attention, though, because several start whispering when one escort has a baseball cap on his head.

The ball and the process leading up to it is so much work, the sorority does the event every other year. Three women, called tri-chairs, oversee the workload.

The girls are invited to become debutantes in the spring. The sorority seeks recommendations from guidance counselors and school officials. The group looks for students who will be juniors or seniors by the time of the ball.

The families also have to raise at least $1,000 through fundraisers, such as dances, chicken dinners or letters asking for support. The average amount each girl raises is $5,000 to $8,000, says Jeannette Ellis, president of the sorority.

Half of what the girls raise goes toward their own scholarships. The sorority uses the other half for future balls and various community causes, especially those that focus on education.

The chapter has a few informational sessions with debutantes in the spring and a cultural event in the summer. This year's trip was in August, to the National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Activities really pick up in mid-September, when the girls start meeting regularly. At the first such session, a luncheon in Fredericksburg, sorority member James tells the debutantes it's time to clear their calendars.

Eight of the 20 are on the student council, seven are James Farmer scholars, six are National Honor Society members and five are involved in music and dance.

The girls go to school in Caroline, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties, as well as Fredericksburg. Their interests are as different as the gowns they'll wear to the ball.

Whitney Hinnant, the senior class president at Massaponax High School, is involved in sports, clubs and honors programs. In her bio, she says she feels "blessed with the gift of gab" and hopes to become a diplomat or ambassador.

Ashley Henderson of James Monroe High School hopes to own a musical and theatrics company after college. She plans to call it Ashley Productions.

"I wouldn't say she's a snob, but she likes to dress a certain way, she likes to get good grades, and she has zero tolerance for foolishness," says Vikki Lee. "She's in her element now."

Kristina Bundy of James Monroe is one of those busy young ladies, with time divided among school, church and a job. But no matter how pressed she may be, she won't leave home until she's properly dressed.

At one point, the girls ask if they can keep dancing after the formal ball ends. James tells them they can, and they may want to invite some friends to come with them.

"I'm taking for granted that the people you invite are on the same caliber that they will have the same manners and the same pleasantries that we've come to expect from you guys."

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