VOORHEESVILLE — A new program at the Capital Region Career and Technical School had a very successful first year with Voorheesville student Christopher Thomas as one of the stars.

Christine D’Alessandro, a certified chef who taught culinary art for 28 years, was the teacher this year for a new lodging program, which is essentially management training in hospitality.
"These are the GMs of hotels in the future," D’Alessandro said of her students, indicating they would be general managers.

Thomas was one of four students on a team from the local BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) vocational school which competed state-wide, winning first place, and then went on to win second at the national level in Hospitality Operations at the National Lodging Management competition in Orlando.

The competition included all-day skills testing: performing night auditing. meaning balancing out a simulated hotel book at the end of the day, by hand; room inspections for cleanliness; and food and beverage analysis, D’Alessandro said.
In the room inspections there were 10 items the students were supposed to find that had not been properly cleaned. "They found 15," D’Alessandro said proudly.

The students also had to create a sales and marketing analysis plan, write it up as a report, and present it to a panel of judges. Their paper was graded on ideas but also on grammatical correctness, she said.

What really helps the students learn how hotels operate are their internships at the Albany Merriott, which is part of the BOCES program, D’Alessandro said.

The students were coached by front-office managers, banquet managers, sales and marketing directors, and housekeeping administrators.

In order to be accepted into the lodging program at the Career and Technical School, students have to have an 80 average, letters of recommendations from their teachers and employers, and interview for a spot, D’Alessandro said.

As a prize for placing so well in competition, each of the four Capital Region students received either a $4,000 scholarship to Johnston and Wales University, which is one of the best schools in the country for business and hospitality degrees, D’Alessandro said, or the students could accept a scholarship to Kendall College in Chicago.

All four Capital Region students have chosen to attend Johnston and Wales in the fall, D’Alessandro said. One student will be attending at the Rhode Island campus and Thomas, along with the two others, will study at the North Carolina campus.

The university was started in the early 1900’s, but relocated to Charlotte after this city became a hub for Fortune 500 corporations and consequently became a center in need of convention management, D’Alessandro said. Thomas will be enrolled for a bachelor’s degree program in sports management , she said.