Anatol Rodgers students Vernajh Pinder, Ameera Poitier, Dezeraye Dean and Jeanie Farrishave have much to be proud of. They are the first school outside of the United States to win the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), International Hospitality and Tourism Management Competition.

In the win, the Anatol Rodgers School students secured scholarships to study hospitality and tourism management at some of the best universities in the industry.

Each student received a scholarships valued at $57,000 tenable at the Culinary Institute of America, Sullivan University, Florida International University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, San Diego State University, Johnson & Wales University, Newbury College (Brookline Massachusetts) and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.

Students from around the world display their skills in a two-day competition that challenges students with situations inspired by real-world job scenarios in the hospitality industry at the annual event held in Orlando, Florida.

Besides winning scholarships, the students also won an all-expense paid trip to New York City to attend the American Hotels and Lodging Association Fall Conference and the International Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Show.

This year marks the fifth year that Anatol Rodgers students Rodgers have participated in the competition. The first year the team placed fifth overall; the second year, the team was seventh overall; the third year they placed fifth; the fourth year they secured a fourth place finish and this year, they walked away as champions.

Among this year's competitors were two high schools from Florida, a school out of California, Guam, Idaho, New Hampshire, Texas, Washington, D.C. and Wyoming. Jack Hayward School out of Freeport, Grand Bahama, also had a team in the competition. The team of Ajayi Oliver, Rose Cherilus, Kendecia Woodside and coach, Gailey Williams recorded a fifth place showing.

During the HTMP competition, teams of students display their proficiency while competing in three contests -- hotel operations, hospitality project and the knowledge bowl.

In hotel operations students applied their knowledge in a three-part challenge room inspection, in which students had 10 minutes to find 10 housekeeping cleaning errors in a typical guestroom using an executive housekeeping checklist; night audit, in which teams performed financial calculations and manually posted front desk accounting information; and case studies in food and beverage, guest service and sales and marketing, in which students had 20 minutes to prepare solutions to case study scenarios.

In the hospitality project, teams demonstrated their knowledge, skills, and abilities in event planning. They were given a scenario that included budget parameters, proposal design, banquet event order, menu, and floor plan. And in the knowledge bowl, teams demonstrated their knowledge through a multi-round, question-and-answer quiz.

Janelle Cambridge-Johnson, who has been out of the classroom for approximately one year, introduced the competition to the school in 2011. A former hospitality and tourism management teacher at Anatol Rodgers, Cambridge-Johnson wanted her students exposed to the international world of hospitality and tourism management and give them an avenue to explore their talents.

Although she is no longer in the classroom, Cambridge-Johnson views this as a way to give back and regards her efforts as community service. She credited the students for their commitment to the preparation required.

"We met every Sunday from September 2014 to April 19 to ensure that they were well prepared for the competition and the sacrifice paid off," said the certified hospitality instructor.

Cambridge-Johnson said she was also happy that the students would have the opportunity to attend university.

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