What a fantastic first semester – Update from Pat & Phillip

We have just completed the first semester of the 2011-12 year at the JTTI and what a fantastic semester it has been.

The Year 1’s have spent the entire semester in the classroom covering English, ICT, Customer Service, Bartending, Housekeeping, Front Desk Agent, Local Tour Guide and a range of academic subjects. In Academics we introduced subjects such as human geography, sustainability, communications and economics. The class showed remarkable dedication and the rewards came in the form of great marks and being incredibly well prepared for their introduction to the school kitchen and restaurant over the December/January holiday period for the Work Experience component of their Food and Beverage courses.

Learning was not restricted to the classroom for the Year 1 students. As part of the Local Tour Guide course, we embarked on a Stone Town City Tour and a Spice Tour before winding down with a late lunch (that included fresh pineapple and jackfruit as dessert) on a secluded West Coast beach. With the knowledge of how a professional guide operates, we created our own Jambiani Village Tour, which was very fascinating indeed! Finally, the students were grateful for the time taken to be shown how a working hotel operates with a site inspection hosted by Rama, a former student and now Accountant at the Blue Oyster Hotel in Jambiani.

The Year 2 students walked into the restaurant on the first day of term as though they had been running it for years. The place is operated with an efficiency many restaurants could only dream of. All students have now had experience filling all roles in the restaurant including bar and service, Food Safety & Hygiene, stock control, mise en place, cooking and plating. They also had many strings added to their bows with the planning, preparation and cooking of themed Friday night dinners and a series of Thursday night cocktail evenings hosted by the school.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the term for the Year 2’s was putting the theory learned in Food Cost Control and Business classes into practice through organising a beach party BBQ fundraiser for a study tour to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in January 2013. The students put together a delicious 3-course menu (featuring delicacies such as tempura kingfish, BBQ kole kole (trevally), tuna and octopus and dessert pizzas), created some superb cocktails (such as the Passionfruit Daiquiri, Mojito and Caipirinha) and transformed the beach in front of the school into a restaurant and bar able to compete with any permanent structure. All those who attended had a fabulous time, said the food and beverage service was excellent and that the students were very professional and highly employable upon completion of the diploma programme.

We must also take the time to thank all of those kind supporters of the school who donated money, time and equipment in all facets of the fundraising process towards the trip. Without your support, the ‘Kili Climb’ would not be going ahead.

We have a lot to look forward to next semester with the Year 1’s going into the kitchen, the Year 2’s climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, the introduction of a new Environmental Management course for all students and of course a new set of volunteer teachers who will be most appreciated. In the meantime, enjoy your Christmas and New Year break and we’ll see you in 2013!

Pat & Phillip