Cooking with Gas at the High School Hospitality Fair

Cooking with Gas at the High School Hospitality Fair

High schoolers go behind-the-scenes at San Diego hotels and restaurants

Last week, San Diego served up a dish of inspiration, empowerment and knowledge for local teens who aspire to be chefs, restaurateurs and hoteliers.

Ruth’s Chris, Rei do Gado, Hotel del Coronado and more than a dozen other San Diego restaurants and hotels opened their doors to 500-plus local high school students for the 20th Annual High School Hospitality Conference and Career Fair.

The yearly event, organized by the San Diego County Chapter of the California Restaurant Association and Junior Achievement San Diego (JA San Diego), is designed to inspire and empower students who are enrolled in culinary programs to follow careers in the hospitality and culinary sectors.

Now we’re cooking!

Students from several area high schools, including Hilltop, Hoover, Garfield, Granite, San Diego, Mira Mesa, Mount Miguel and others, visited more than 20 well-known San Diego hotels and restaurants to shadow professionals and learn more about careers in the fields they plan to pursue.

The students also had the chance to meet with local organizations and colleges like JA San Diego, San Diego State University, Hilton San Diego, the San Diego Tourism Authority and SDG&E at the event’s career fair.

Students applied for summer jobs, honed job-seeking skills, learned about educational paths in hospitality—and from SDG&E, learned about the role natural gas plays in cooking and how our programs and services will help them manage energy use and costs when they run restaurants of their own.

Mix it up with JA San Diego

Each year, more than 80,000 students learn skills to help them get a job, start a business and manage their money through JA San Diego’s programs. From elementary school visits to Biz Town to JA Career Success in high school, JA San Diego  helps prepare students of any age for the “real world.”

JA San Diego relies on volunteers to mentor, supervise and support students throughout their journey. Visit JA San Diego here to find an opportunity to volunteer.