North Conway NH Students Take AH&L Educational Institute Title

Sixth Annual National Lodging Management Program

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. April 28, 2009

ORLANDO, FL, April 28, 2009 - High school hospitality students from Kennett High School in North Conway, New Hampshire took home the national title in the sixth annual American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) National Lodging Management Program (LMP) Competition held April 16-18, 2009. The three-day event at the Orlando Airport Marriott challenged students to the real-life work experiences in a hotel. The competition is organized by EI, via funding provided by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF).

Teams of students displayed their proficiency while competing in three contests:

Hotel Operations: Students applied their knowledge in a three-part challenge: room inspections, in which students had 10 minutes to find 10 housekeeping cleaning errors in a typical guestroom using an executive housekeeping checklist; night audit, in which teams performed financial calculations and manually posted front desk accounting information; and case studies in food and beverage and sales and marketing, in which students had 15 minutes to prepare solutions to case study scenarios.

The Hospitality Project: Teams demonstrated their knowledge, skills, and abilities in event planning. They were given a scenario that included budget parameters, invitation design, banquet event order, menu, and floor plan.

The Knowledge Bowl: Teams demonstrated their knowledge through a multi-round, question-and-answer Jeopardy-style quiz.

In all, 13 teams competed, representing schools in Arkansas, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming.

The following teams won accolades during the event, entitling them to nearly a half million dollars in scholarships from Johnson & Wales University, San Diego State University, the University of Houston, Widener University, Paul Smith's College, and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation:

Overall Winners:

First place: Kennett High School (New Hampshire). Instructor: Lori Babine; Students: Kristina Drew, Brittany Hutchinson, Joshua Cahill, Ariel Palmer.

Second place: Miami Beach High School (Florida). Instructor: Lupe Diaz; Students: Melissa Tatta, Hanibegk Coll, Vanessa Fernandez, Karl Laxy.

Third place: Jane Addams High School (New York). Instructor: Merlene McDonald; Students: Johanna Gutierrez, Karina Lopez, Gloria Gallegos, Alina Almonte.

Knowledge Bowl: First place: Kennett High School (NH); Second place: Jane Addams High School (NY); Third place: Waipahu High School (HI)

Hotel Operations: First place: Miami Beach High School (FL); Second place: Kennett High School (NH); Third place: Okkodo High School (Guam).

Hospitality Project: First place: Miami Beach High School (FL); Second place: Kennett High School (NH); Third place: Lakeland High School (ID).

LMP is a national educational program for high school juniors and seniors. Topics covered in the program include lodging management, front office and housekeeping management, leadership skills, marketing and sales, and food and beverage service. Through internships arranged as part of their LMP class, students can explore the variety of job opportunities open to them in the hotel industry.

Event sponsors included Sealy, Inc., Hcareers, Best Western International, U.S. Foodservice, the Orlando Airport Marriott, and AH&LEF.