The Tribune

FOUR students from Anatol Rodgers High School have secured scholarships worth $57,000 each to some of the best universities in the hospitality and tourism management industry by winning an American competition in Florida.

Vernajh Pinder, Ameera Poitier, Dezeraye Dean and Jeanie Farris have become the first non-American school team to win the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) annual International Hospitality and Tourism Management competition.

Besides winning scholarships, the Anatol Rodgers students also won an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to attend the American Hotels and Lodging Association Fall conference and the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show, where they will meet some of the most influential leaders in the hospitality industry.

The event involves high school students from around the world displaying their skills in a two-day competition in Orlando in challenging situations inspired by real-world job scenarios in the hospitality industry.

Among this year’s competitors were two high schools from Florida, a school from California, Guam, Idaho, New Hampshire, Texas, Washington, DC, and Wyoming. A team from Jack Hayward High School in Freeport, Grand Bahama, comprising Ajayi Oliver, Rose Cherilus, Kendecia Woodside and coach Gailey Williams finished a creditable fifth.

Janelle Cambridge-Johnson, a former Hospitality and Tourism Management teacher at Anatol Rodgers, introduced the competition to the Nassau school in 2011. She wanted her students to be exposed to the international world of Hospitality and Tourism Management and give them an avenue to explore their talents.

The four students received scholarships valued at $57,000 and among their university selections are the Culinary Institute of America, Sullivan University, Florida International University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, San Diego State University, Johnson & Wales University, Newbury College (Brookline Massachusetts) and the AHLEI. Mrs Cambridge-Johnson expressed her joy at the students’ performance: “I am happy that these students will have the opportunity to attend university. This reinforces what we already know – that hard work pays off. I am sure that these students will have a bright future in hospitality and tourism management,” she said.

Although she is no longer in the classroom, Mrs Cambridge-Johnson regards her efforts as community service and credited the students for their commitment to the preparation required. “We met every Sunday from September, 2014, to April 19 to ensure that they were well prepared for the competition and the sacrifice paid off,” she said. Mrs Cambridge-Johnson took advantage of the opportunity to become a certified hospitality instructor a few years ago when she participated in a partnership between the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Tourism.

She also thanked Myrtle McPhee, the principal at Anatol Rodgers, who she says has been an ardent supporter. “She was always very supportive of my efforts to enhance the Hospitality and Tourism programme while I was at the school and even when I decided to continue working with the students for the competition after I left. She was my greatest advocate.”

During the competition, teams of students displayed their proficiency while competing in three contests – hotel operations, the hospitality project and the knowledge bowl, a multi-round quiz

In the hotel operations sections students had to apply their knowledge in a three-part challenge: a room inspection, in which they had ten minutes to find ten housekeeping cleaning errors in a typical guestroom using an executive housekeeping checklist; a night audit, in which teams performed financial calculations and manually post front desk accounting information; and case studies in food and beverage, guest service and sales and marketing, in which students had 20 minutes to prepare solutions to scenarios.