Chaffey High School Business Department
introduces a new Hotel/Hospitality Industry career path program.
Ontario, May 11, 1998: With a keen eye on the future,
Chaffey High School's Business Education Department has introduced a hospitality
industry career preparation program focusing on the hotel and tourism
industries. Under the auspices of the CHS Hotel Management Academy, 70 sophomore
students entered the three-year program in September.
Plans to develop a hospitality program coincided with the
groundbreaking of the Ontario Convention and Event Center. Speculating on the
need for a qualified employee base, the CHS Business Department went to work
researching the current state of employment in the hotel/hospitality industry.
It didn't take long to determine the outlook for the future was bright and
getting brighter! According to a recently published industry article, the number
of jobs generated by the U.S. tourism industry is increasing faster than the
nation's overall job growth, with travel-related employment expected to grow
more than 18 per cent over the next several years.
Locally, the hospitality industry is leading the way toward
an economic upsurge in California. This is evident in the number of hotel/motel
building starts and expansion found in Ontario and the surrounding areas. Adding
to the "boom" are the openings of the California Speedway, the Ontario
Mills Shopping and Entertainment Complex, the Ontario Convention Center, and
future expansion plans for the Ontario International Airport.
As a result, -- entry-level employment opportunities are
expected to abound.
The CHS Hotel Management Academy has already received
overwhelming support from local industry professionals who view the program as
mutually beneficial. Hotel managers describe finding and keeping good employees
as one of the major issues they face, and welcome any opportunity to impact the
quality of future workers.
Requests for input on curriculum, specific exit criteria, and
competency standards required for employment, have all been met with enthusiasm.
Utilizing industry-related materials, the three-year curriculum will focus on
technical skills such as computer literacy, accounting principles, and business
machines, but will also include emphasis on communication skills and customer
service. Positive work habits, business ethics and attitudes, problem solving
and presentation skills will serve to further round out the program's
curriculum. Having recently been awarded the "Focus on the Future"
grant given to academic programs furthering school-to-work opportunities, plans
are currently under way to create an on-the-job work experience internship
program. The CHS Hotel Management Academy, recognizing the broad range of
academic and vocational needs of its student body, has built into its curriculum
requirements course sequencing designed to accommodate students choosing a
vocational, community college, or four-year university career path. But, by far
the greatest offering of the Academy program will be the annual Hotel Industry
Job Fair which will match Academy graduates with prospective industry employers.
As one local hotel manager recently commented in his letter of support, "We
are always in the market for outstanding and motivated associates to join our
service industry -- and we certainly need them."
We invite you to find out more about the Chaffey High School
Hotel Management Academy by contacting the CHS Business Department, at (909)988-
5560. |
