The team from Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California, won the 2014 HTMP International Competition for the second year in a row. — Photo by Educational Institute

High school hospitality students from Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California, took home the international title for the second year in a row at the eleventh annual American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) HTMP International Competition held April 9-11 in Orlando. Teams competed for scholarship money and a trip to the International Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Show in New York City this November. Each member of the winning team was awarded $43,500 in scholarships to further their post-secondary hospitality education.

The event at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa in the Walt Disney World® Resort challenged

student teams to display their hospitality knowledge and skills through a variety of competitive events including a night audit, room inspection, banquet planning, case studies, and knowledge bowl quiz. Twelve teams participated in this year's competition, representing schools in the Bahamas (Grand Bahama Island and New Providence), California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming.

Here is an overview of the winners of this year's HTMP International Competition:
Overall

Winners:
First place: Monta Vista High School, California. Team members: Michael Lin, Madeleine Liu, Shannon Lu, Albert Zeng. Instructor: Carl Schmidt.
Second place: Mid-Florida Tech, Florida. Team members: Angie Grunskyte, Sasha Gatti, Deja Miller, Autumn Butler. Instructor: Pat Novalis.
Third place: Lakeland Resort Academy, Idaho. Team members: Arden Erickson, Hailey Hendry, Kieley Nielsen, Sierra Larson. Instructor: Teira Youngdell.

Knowledge Bowl: First place: Mid-Florida Tech, Florida. Second place: Monta Vista High School.

California. Third place: Hospitality High School, Washington, D.C.

Hotel Operations: First place: White Mountain Regional High School, New Hampshire. Second

place: Monta Vista High School, California. Third place: Byron Nelson High School, Texas.

Hospitality Project: First place: Anatol Rodgers High School, Bahamas. Second place: Byron

Nelson High School, Texas. Third place: White Mountain Regional High School, New Hampshire.

Winning teams were awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships provided by leading hospitality

management schools, including Johnson & Wales, San Diego State University, Sullivan University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Florida International University, as well as AH&LEF.

Event sponsors included AH&LEF, HCareers, Heartland Payment Systems, Best Western

International, Lodging Magazine, and the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association.

For more information about the competition and EI's high school hospitality curriculum, contact

Shelly Weir, vice president, domestic sales, at (407) 999-8166 or [email protected].

About the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI)

Established in 1953 as the nonprofit education and training arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), AHLEI's mission is to be the preferred provider of quality resources to educate, develop, and certify hospitality educators, students and professionals worldwide. AHLEI became part of the National Restaurant Association" Training & Certification division in 2017, connecting and leveraging the resources of two organizations that are deeply committed to a vision of career success and upward mobility for current and future hospitality, restaurant, and food service employees.

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