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Erie County Technical School Wins AH&LA’s National Competition
A four-member team from the Erie County Technical School’s (ECTS) Tourism & Hospitality Management program has won the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s inaugural Lodging Management Program Competition. The competition was held April 21–23, at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel in Orlando, FL. The three-day event allowed outstanding high school students to demonstrate their knowledge and skill sets needed for advancement within the U.S. lodging industry. The Pennsylvania Tourism & Lodging Association sponsored ECTS’s Tourism and Hospitality program’s participation in this competition.

The winning team included seniors, Dawn Anselment, General McLane High School; Katie Caldwell, Ft. LeBoeuf High School; Krystal Nolan, McDowell High School; and Lindsey Stevenson, Harbor Creek High School.

Robert Craft, Tourism & Hospitality Management instructor and Elaine Shaffer, student services coordinator accompanied the team.

Teams consisting of secondary students, winners from participating states, competed to become national champions as well as recipients of scholarships and prizes. To demonstrate their proficiency in the hospitality industry, students took part in three contests including a Knowledge Bowl, a team quiz format; Hotel Operations, a critical thinking and problem-solving challenge; and the Hospitality Project, an event-planning scenario. Competing teams included students from Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, New Mexico, South Carolina, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Besides the American Hotel & Lodging Association and its Educational Foundation, event sponsors included Diners Club International, Hilton Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, Carlson Companies, Inc., Disney and Sealy, Inc. USA Today was a Supporting Sponsor.