Career and Technical Educators Get Treated To a Day in the Life of a Tourism/Hospitality Career

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Date Published/Updated: 07/22/2022
Author: Heidi Fendos
Location: Sevierville, TN.

On Thursday, July 14, Soaky Mountain Waterpark and Wilderness at the Smokies were proud to host Career and Technical Education Educators from Hamblen, Jefferson, and Sevier Counties for a Teacher Externship. The group was comprised of a wide variety of fields including technology, hospitality, business, guidance, independent living, and the Directors of two of the county’s overall CTE Programs.

The objectives of the day were to learn firsthand about the hospitality & tourism operations, workforce readiness, and career opportunities available within the industry and at our organization with varying levels of education and experience.

According to Chase, Assistant General Manager at our preferred lodging partner Wilderness at the Smokies, “When people think about hospitality, they commonly think of it as a first job, summer job, but they don’t realize we have such a wide variety of opportunities available. Some of the lesser known opportunities include but aren’t limited to, commercial maintenance, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, finance, information technology, graphic design, marketing, and our corporate team even has an aviation department.”

Chase added, “It was a pleasure hosting this group and we’re thankful they chose to spend one of their hard-earned summer days with us. These educators are currently mentoring and teaching tomorrow’s workforce and we’re here to support both the students and teachers in our community in any way possible.”

Speakers included: Wilderness at the Smokies’ Director of Human Resources; Director of Guest Services; Director of Sales; Director of Aquatics; Director of Security, Safety, and Risk Management; and Director of Food & Beverage. During the morning session, the group was also able to participate in activities that represented what some of the departments do on a daily basis. This included “room swaps” representing reserving guest units on a large scale, planning lifeguard positions representing waterpark design and finally building a menu representing food and beverage cost analysis.

Following the morning speakers, the group was able to go on a tour of Wilderness at the Smokies. The group’s last stop was Soaky Mountain Waterpark where they enjoyed a taco bar and heard from Dave, our General Manager. Dave discussed the construction of the park through COVID, waterpark design, park additions, day-to-day operations, the staff’s role in the winter season, and the availability of the team to conduct educational presentations at schools (there’s a lot of math involved with waterslides, believe it or not). After lunch, the group was able to experience first-hand the fun that Soaky Mountain has to offer and how it is the perfect way to beat the summer heat!

If you would like us to help support educational opportunities in your local community, please email [email protected]

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