The students who passed the Trading Up: Hospitality course pose for a group photo.
FORTY-EIGHT Public School System high school students have passed the Hospitality Tourism Management certification program as part of Northern Marianas Technical Institute, PSS, and Island Training Solutions’ Trading Up: Hospitality dual enrollment program. They received their certificates during a special ceremony on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Resort.
The program allows PSS students to take hospitality courses at NMTech at no cost to them.
Saipan Southern High School graduated 16 students; Marianas High School, 14; and Kagman High School, 18.
Participants ranged from freshmen to seniors. To pass the exit exam, students completed a semester of tourism management on their respective campuses, listened to guest speakers from the tourism industry, and completed 25 hours of hands-on experience at partner hotels over the course of two weeks.
The students worked in various departments at Kensington Hotel, Crowne Plaza, Pacific Islands Club, Saipan World Resort, and Coral Ocean Resort.
They also had to pass a 100-question exam from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. The test was administered by the organization’s regional partner, Island Training Solutions.
Jim Arenovski, president of Island Training Solutions, congratulated the students for investing in their work readiness. He said the certification “truly opens doors and creates opportunities,” noting that an AHLEI certification is the “ultimate distinction in professional excellence for the hospitality industry.”
He added, however, that the students would still need to work hard to make the most of their opportunities.
“Students, this certificate you’re going to get today is simply a piece of paper. It’s going to be what you do with that piece of paper that matters,” he said.
“Use it as a tool to improve your opportunities. Use it as a key to open doors. Use it to its full advantage.
“With job markets getting tighter — not just in the CNMI but around the world — this is your opportunity to open doors. This is your opportunity to beat out all those folks who did not put some investment into themselves.”
For her part, Kim Camacho, executive director of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, told students their certification made them more attractive to employers.
Chamber members are “always looking for individuals just like you — already trained, already committed, and ready to jump into the worksite,” she said.
She also told students they were already equipped for success in the hospitality industry because of their local culture.
“You already carry something powerful with you — and that’s our island’s ‘secret sauce’ of hospitality,” she said. “Here on Saipan, hospitality isn’t just something we do for work. It’s how we were raised. It’s how we treat each other. That spirit — that’s gold. Because in the world of hospitality, it’s not just about checking in people or serving food. It’s about making people feel seen, welcomed, and appreciated.”
