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Carver academy group goes behind the scenes
Journal Photo by Walt Unks
George Weston, the general manager of James E. Strates Shows, tells students at Carver High School’s Tourism and Hotel Management Academy about preparation for the Dixie Classic Fair.
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Published: October 8, 2009
Elias Jeter imagines working in a resort in another country one day. Roxie Carroll pictures herself in a hotel in this country greeting people from other countries and helping make them comfortable. Latiyonna Manns wants to own a veterinary hospital one day.
To all three sophomores at Carver High School, enrolling in the school's new Academy of Hospitality and Tourism looked like a good path to take to make those dreams come true.
"I signed up because people had told me this was a great opportunity to get started on a career," Elias said. "I've learned if you don't take a shot at it, you're going to miss it."
"What I want to do is own my own business, and I thought this would help me out, and, so far, I like it," Latiyonna said. "We get a better understanding of what goes on in different businesses."
The curriculum for the academy includes developing such skills as how to dress and to present yourself and how to operate reservation systems. The other day, students were learning about different levels of lodging.
In addition to working in the classroom and listening to outside speakers talk about their areas of expertise, the students are spending time in the field. Earlier this week, they went to the Dixie Class Fair for a behind-the-scenes tour.
"I'm trying to get them prepared for the business world," said Nicole Miller, the main teacher for the academy.
The academy's curriculum starts in the sophomore year and continues through students' senior year. Once they graduate, they could go on to college or go ahead and get a job -- say, in catering or working as a front-desk clerk -- that would, with additional training at the business where they work, put them in line for a leadership position.
"It's wide open," said Shirley Bynum, who, as the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system's program specialist for career/technical education, oversees the academy.
The curriculum for the academy, which opened at Carver this year, comes from the National Academy Foundation, which was established to support school-within-a-school career academies. At present, the foundation works with more than 500 career academies serving 50,000 students in 40 states.
"We were looking for something to reach students and to keep them in school," Bynum said, "They get honors credits while they are here."
During their senior year, they can also possibly get college credit for some courses. Plus, the summer after their junior year, the students are guaranteed an internship with a local business.
"There are a variety of opportunities for students to do internships," said Charlie Bell, the human-resources director at Twin City Quarter and one of a number of local businessmen working with the academy. "The hospitality industry is so diverse."
For local business people, Bell said, it makes sense to support such a program because it helps develop a trained group of young people available to work for them. Although the economic downturn has hit the hospitality industry as hard as others, he said, the long-term prospects are good.
"We are one of the few industries projected to grow in the next decade," Bell said.
For the school system, the academy has another purpose in addition to the goals of keeping students in school and of preparing them for a possible career in the hospitality industry. Superintendent Don Martin has said that starting the academy at Carver is part of a broader plan to draw more students to the school. Carver already had another magnet program in the Jacket Integrated Academy, which concentrates on science, technology, engineering and math. School officials have also talked about adding a fire-and-safety academy there.
This year, all 18 students in the program were already going to Carver. In future years, school officials hope that it will draw students who might otherwise have gone elsewhere.
Elias said that the reputation Carver has among some people for not being as good as other high schools bothers him. It's already a good school, he said, and he hopes that the academy helps improve its reputation.
"I enjoy this school a lot," he said. "There are a lot of smart people here."
kunderwood@wsjournal.com
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