Summer Success: Tyson Foods Hospitality Apprenticeship

The Tyson Foods Hospitality Apprenticeship at Metro was a huge success this summer. In its third year as a program offering, the Tyson Hospitality Apprenticeship has grown into a flagship offering of the College Orientation Program for girls. Tenth through twelfth-grade girls apply to be apprentices in one of three options in the Apprenticeship Program at Metro: Hospitality, Business, and Engineering.

Once accepted as a hospitality apprentice, the students learned a variety of skills such as baking, knife safety, menu planning, budgeting, food safety, presentation skills, and flower arranging. They worked with the same 15 students all summer long and learned to work as a team, mediate problems and get along with co-workers. The students enjoyed field trips to the French Pastry School, Unilever, 1871 and an Apprenticeship-program-wide PR workshop. "I learned that starting a business takes a lot of work and it's important to have mentors to guide you," one student shared after visiting 1871 while another observed at the French Pastry School, "cooking is difficult and you have to have determination!"

The summer culminated in a restaurant fair, where the students presented a mock restaurant, complete with a sample from either their dessert or appetizer menu. Guests had the opportunity to try mini hamburger sliders, taco cups, mini carrot cakes, Italian nutella-filled donuts and s'more pizzas. Students learned about presentation, menu design, budgeting, real estate, layout, staffing, proper cleaning standards as well as the skills to make their delicious dishes of course!