Students shadow resort employees
FARMINGTON – Jennifer Shumar of Brownsville is stuffing envelopes with information about catering while watching PBX operator Melanie Sarver handle phone calls from throughout Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa. The two women are tucked into a back room near the front desk of the Chateau Lafayette, a scene not many visitors are allowed to observe.
But this is a special day.
While Punxsutawney Phil is being coaxed out of his burrow, Shumar is one of 12 students from the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School’s hospitality and lodging management program who are participating in the lodging industry’s National Job Shadow Day.
“Basically, it’s to let people know more about what the industry has to offer,’ said Daynelle Hutton, instructor of the vo-tech’s hospitality program, now in its second year. “There are positions not just for the front desk and housekeeping but banquets, butler service, valet, doorman, food and beverage.’
Through the cooperation of Nemacolin Woodlands, Hutton has assigned students to shadow employees at the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, more commonly referred to as a telephone switchboard), front desk, housekeeping, reservations, pastry kitchen and the Hardy Learning Center.
These students are new to the hospitality program – the semester started Jan. 20 – and Hutton hopes the day will give them a taste of what the hotel industry is like.
Shumar, 18, of Grindstone and a senior at Brownsville Area High School, watched Sarver handle calls and was told she would be making shuttle calls soon.
Already certified as a nursing assistant, Shumar is considering a career in hospitality: “It’s more than I thought it would be.’
In the basement, Michelle Moreland, 15, of Keisterville, a freshman at Uniontown Area High School, and Lacye Price, 15, of Masontown, a freshman at Albert Gallatin Area Senior High School, are in the reservations department, listening in with headsets as employees such as Virginia Savage of McHenry, Md., take reservations for all aspects of the resort, including dinners, spa visits and overnight stays.
“It’s fun. I’m listening and watching what she’s doing,’ said Moreland.
“I think it’s pretty cool because they work on a computer,’ said Price. “You help people out and you feel pretty good about it.’
Meanwhile, in the pastry kitchen, Amber Frey, 17, of Markleysburg, a senior at Uniontown, is following around banquet pastry chef Hayley Anderson of Scottdale, who is cracking dozens of eggs to prepare a base for cr?me brulee for a weekend party of 700. Second cook Amber Frazee of Farmington is cutting fudge brownies into triangles and arranging them on a silver tray. It’s a scrumptious place to work.
“It’s really neat. I like the different jobs they do. They’re involved in everything,’ said Frey.
Back at the front desk, Tara George, 17, of Uniontown, who is a junior at Albert Gallatin, and Jamie Sapp, 15, of Point Marion, who is a freshman at Albert Gallatin, have returned from a tour of some hotel rooms with guest services agent Melissa Huey of Masontown, who is expecting to check in 90 people this day.
“It’s terrific. If you like office work, you’d like this,’ said George.
“I think this is a great place to be. It’s beautiful,’ said Sapp.
Front desk supervisor Vickie Manyak of Uniontown approves of the students receiving a first-hand look behind the scenes: “I love it, definitely. The girls who were here last year really enjoyed it.’
The students were also expected to visit Wal-Mart this past Friday for another job-shadowing program. And as the semester continues, the students will learn about the industry in the vo-tech’s classroom and laboratories as well as in internships on the job.
Said Hutton, “There are a lot of opportunities in the industry.’