C.E.T. students host luncheon
For students of hospitality management at the Center for Employment Training one of the prequalifying requirements for on- the-job-training is a presentation that simulates a sit down dinner at a fancy hotel or restaurant. While the exercise may have been a test, the food was quite real… and News Five’s Patrick Jones was only too happy to eat.
Arriving guests were greeted by warm, but nervous smiles and promptly ushered to their tables. But appearances don’t always tell the whole story.
Dora Pate, “Manager”
“First of all it took a lot of work to get everything ready and we had to buy a lot of stuff to make it look like something real, like something that could be expected from C.E.T., like we could expect if we go to any one of the big hotels.”
Patrick Jones
“Everything about today’s presentation had to be just right because while most students get to write their finals, the CET trainees had to act out the answer to an important question, are they ready for the real world.”
Melissa Tucker, Hospitality Instructor
“One of the main things is that the trainees get a feel of what it would be like to be working or operating their own dining room. And so I decided this year to have them do it instead of doing it individually and inviting their individual guests they do it on a large scale and invite everybody at once and see how it will function, or how they would perform as a group that is working in a dining room.”
Melissa Tucker
“Individually they all learn to work with each other, because what I’m telling them is that when they go out in the industry they won’t be performing on an individual basis. They won’t be by themselves, you are going to have a group of people that you’re going to work with.”
And like a consistent batter, the eleven young women and one gentleman worked together and rose to the occasion.
Veronica Myvette, “Captain”
“Well the role of captain, I should have assisted the waitress, like if anything goes wrong with the waitress them, I should go and see what is wrong with the guest and go an apologize to them and clean up whatsoever the mess they had made. Or if they have an excuse or a complaint, I should go and just apologize whatever had happen.”
Dora Pate
“Most of us were a little nervous, but that is expected of something like this, first time and so I think everybody did well. Everybody did what they were supposed to. What they were assigned to do and everything went well and people said that the service was great, the food was great and so I think it was very good.”
Ian Gordon – “Assistant Manager”
“Like we calm ourself and try to make everything go as excellent because we wanted to go excellent because from this will show us if we are ready for the job training. And from the recommendation that we all got, we are ready for it.”
The students will not be given a grade “per se” but will be judged on competency. And among the over thirty guests who sat down to “Chicken Cordon Blue” was the evaluator.
Melissa Tucker
“There were a few things that I noticed. First off because it was the first time I saw that they were a little nervous. I must say I probably was nervous for them myself, so I saw some of the guests needing attention and the trainees were not really looking and making sure that everything was O.K. so it was the first thing that I saw and the most important one.”
Still, there were no complaints from the diners.
Carl Myvette
“Everything was just perfect and, not that home isn’t good but to be able to sit down and enjoy, to see, the professionalism in these people I think it was just wonderful.”
Ian Gordon
“Well it was great, I like it because it was, it just give me the pleasure of doing it and let me feel how it feels to be an Assistant Manager. It feels great. It makes me want to really have my own business quick.”
Bridget Vicente, “Hostess”
“Well it went well, because the people them smile up with me. They made me feel all right, like a ready fi deal with the whole thing today.”
Veronica Myvette
“To me it went very good because it was a first time for us and everybody went good. Everybody seems good, and we do everything perfect for the first time, nobody dropped anything, nobody never served from the wrong way, everybody served from the correct way, no quarrel, everything was just correct. Completely correct.”
Patrick Jones
“The shaking hands have stopped. The nervous grins replaced by more confident ones. The trainees get to work now on their shortcomings while me and my date return to the real world. Patrick Jones, for News Five.”
The second half of the hospitality class will make a similar presentation next Wednesday. Sorry: all the tables have already been booked.
