The hospitality internship program at Bowie High School is a program designed to prepare students for a future career involving catering, event planning, and tourism. The program is connected to a well-known catering company, Sterling Affairs, which is one of the largest full-service catering and event-planning companies in Central Texas.
“First year interns train 20 hours per month with the choice to train from approximately 25 departments and rotate to a new area every six weeks,” hospitality teacher Jill Wolfington said. “The second year program is Meeting and Event Planning. Students not only earn college credit for these classes, but also get paid. We work events from charity to planning beautiful weddings.”
As jobs become more competitive and the need for experience is becoming required in most fields, this program gives students opportunities to try out a field that they are interested in for their future career.
“I want to be an events planner, so I’ll be getting my hospitality management degree in college. This program looks great on my application, and I’m getting a lot of hands on experience,” senior Trisha Knox said.
Students work together to accomplish tasks and are put in situations that would be daily occurrences in their field.
“I joined hospitality to get a jump start for my career,” junior Chelsea Hummer said. “I have the opportunity to travel to Barton Creek Resort and Spa during the school day and it has really shown me what it takes to be in a position of authority in a large work place.”
In Wolfington, Bowie has the first teacher in the state of Texas to develop this hands-on program and it has brought great success in the past 24 years.
“I have students who got college degrees, were actually hired and have been working there for 13 years,” Wolfington said. “I also have a student at the Four Seasons in Hawaii working as an event planner.”
Aside from all of the hard work the program does, both students and the teacher are able to take many trips abroad in places such as Dublin Ireland, the Greek Islands, and this year are traveling to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
This program has provided students with a lot of learning experiences that help them grow.
“Hospitality is awesome. It has helped me grow not only as an individual but as a teammate,” junior Scott Mayo said. “This class has taught me how to work with other people and become a more social employee.”
Aside from these fun experiences the program requires members to take work ethics such as communication, attendance, and appearance seriously.
“Being in this program takes commitment, reliability, quick learning skills, and being a team player,” Knox said.
Students must be willing to adjust in situations when needed to, and cooperate for their own future benefit.
“When we go to events team work plays a huge role, you must get along with the actual Sterling members and take any input they tell you, which will make you better,” senior Tess Reuter said.
This program has been a huge interest to adults looking to hire and admit students in this program.
“I have had students tell me that employers and college interviewers main interest and questions were about this unique hands-on program,” Wolfington said. “They felt like it was what put them at the front of the line for acceptance into college, for scholarships, or for good jobs. I am very proud of the Hospitality Internship Program.”