by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
While America’s most well-known groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, was seeing his shadow at Gobbler’s Knob Monday morning to declare six more weeks of winter, some students from Fletcher High School were at the Hyatt job shadowing the hotel’s department heads and staff.
The students are enrolled in Fletcher’s first “Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism” class at the school’s Hospitality Management Academy. Their teacher, Mary Hayes, said the experience at the Hyatt was the best way for her students to get some real world experience in the career path they are considering.
“Our goal is for one out of 10 students to pursue a career in the hospitality industry,” she said.
“National Groundhog Job Shadow Day” takes place each year on Feb. 2. It’s sponsored by the American Hospitality & Lodging Association (AH&LA), America’s Promise – the Alliance for Youth, Junior Achievement and the U.S. Department of Labor. The students from Fletcher were among the 1 million young people and more than 100,000 businesses participating in various job shadowing programs this year. The students worked in several of the hotel’s departments including front desk, guest services, catering and engineering.
“For the past 50 years, Hyatt has demonstrated a commitment to social responsibility, youth and education,” said Hyatt General Manager Dan King. “Today, Hyatt and AH&LA aim to encourage and educate today’s future leaders about the hospitality industry through an involvement with national Groundhog Shadow Day. This is an opportunity for the students to learn what the hospitality business is really like.”
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