This year, Hughson High School has begun offering a Career Technical Education (CTE) course in Hospitality. It is taught by Kourtney Christianson in Room 33 and occurs during second period. The class is open to all sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Students in this class learn about careers in hospitality, tourism, and recreation and the values required to be successful in them. Careers students learn about including: working in hospitality, tourism, and travel, managing restaurants and other food services, and leadership in fitness and recreation.
Christianson was asked about her opinions on the Hospitality course. She answered that she believed that the hardest part of the course was, “it requires so much participation and creativity. Since the class is based mostly on project based learning instead of scores from things like tests and paper assignments it can be challenging to make sure you are fully participating everyday. ” She continued, “I think sometimes there can also be nerves around partner work and nearly all assignments require collaboration and partner work.”
She noted that, “the pacing is still in the works,” and that the curriculum currently is project-based. She expects that students will, “have the opportunity to use the skills they are taught in this class daily, even if not in a professional setting.” The class plans to take trips to Samaritan Village, City Hall, and Double Tree in Modesto.
Christianson also explained how she came up with the idea for teaching a Hospitality class. Her bachelor’s degree is in Recreation Administration and she finds hospitality to be “fun and interesting.” In college, she had experience dealing with hospitality. She said, “I got to take classes like small business management, winter recreation leadership, Leisure and Aging (which focuses on recreation for elderly), inclusive recreation, recreation planning, and many more classes. I also did my internship for my bachelors degree for event planning at a winery.”
This new class provides a great opportunity for students to learn skills that they can use every day of their lives. It is just one of the many opportunities students have to learn at Hughson High School.
