Arvin High School (AHS) created a new hospitality program for the 2026-2027 academic year to align with Bakersfield College’s two-year hospitality program after the opening of Hard Rock Casino Tejon. The program currently has 60 students enrolled and is open to any AHS student.
AHS will have two Hospitality teachers, Enedina Solonao and Erin Kawiecki, each teaching one course. The AHS hospitality program will provide students with hands-on experience, helping them develop practical skills and gain a broad understanding of the field.
Kawiecki discussed what the program will offer to students considering a career in hospitality.
“The program gives students a chance to experience hospitality before they have to decide if it’s something they want to pursue after high school,” said Kawiecki. “A lot of students may be familiar with restaurants or hotels, but they may not realize how many different careers exist within the hospitality industry—from culinary arts and hotel management to tourism, event planning, and even owning or managing their own business.”
She also emphasized that hands-on learning and exposure can help determine whether students want to pursue careers in hospitality.
“Through hands-on learning and exposure to these types of businesses, students can discover what interests them and where their strengths might fit. If they decide hospitality is something they enjoy, they already have that foundation and can consider continuing their education at Bakersfield College, earning industry certifications, or going directly into the workforce,” said Kawiecki.
Kawiecki clarified that they want students to understand that hospitality is more than a job and can expand to a career.
“Ultimately, we want to show them that hospitality isn’t just a job—it can be a career with a lot of different pathways and can apply to many different sectors, because at its core, it is customer service and working with people,” said Kawiecki.
Arvin High School principal Dr. Gabriel Ramirez-Leyva shared his hope for the program’s approval to earn a certificate in the Hospitality program through dual enrollment with Bakersfield College.
“The hope is that once we can dual-enroll these courses, they will count towards the courses students need to take at Bakersfield College to obtain the certification through them,” said Ramirez.
He added that he hopes to expand the hospitality program in the upcoming school year and have dual enrollment.
He also stated that AHS is now offering 17 Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway programs in the 2026 academic year.
“In addition to our Hospitality CTE program, we have 16 more CTE pathways at Arvin High School, including Construction, Manufacturing, Auto Tech, Mariachi, and Ballet Folklorico, to name a few.”
Solano shared that students should understand the importance of hospitality and what it brings to their lives in this career field.
“This program helps students see their cultures, languages, and community experiences as strengths in the hospitality industry,” said Solano.
Kawiecki added that this is an important program for students, as it provides real-world skills and opportunities in the hospitality field.
“I think a program like this is important because it gives our students real-world skills and exposes them to careers they may not have considered before. Hospitality is really about working with people, so students are learning communication, teamwork, professionalism, leadership, and problem-solving- skills they would need for any job,” said Kawiecki. “Still, we get to throw in fun events and trips along the way to show them those skills in action. Most importantly, we want our students to see that there are opportunities out there for them and give them the confidence and skills to pursue those opportunities.”
Solano shared the skills that students can learn and apply in the field, such as customer service, communication, teamwork, leadership, food and beverage safety handling, problem-solving, and cultural awareness.
Kawaiecki also shared her comments on the skills that students can learn and apply in the field.
“Students are getting hands-on experience with skills they can actually use in the industry—things like food safety and sanitation, food service, table setup, event planning, guest services, and understanding how hospitality operations work,” said Kawaiecki. “They are learning these hard skills through planned events here at school and off campus, as well as simulated situations in the classroom.”
She continued to explain that, along with the technical skills they receive, they are learning to communicate and apply what they learn in their workplace.
“Along with those technical skills, they’re learning how to communicate professionally, manage their time, work as a team, and respond to real-world customer situations. We really want them to be able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it directly in the workplace,” said Kawaiecki.
Kawaiecki emphasized that she wants students to apply what they learn in the classroom directly in the workplace.
“We really want them to be able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it directly in the workplace,” said Kawaiecki.
Solano discussed the learning process in which students learn these skills in different ways. He stated that students will learn through hands-on projects, workplace simulations, guest speakers, labs, and community-based experiences.
Kawieck added that students will learn the necessary skills for the hospitality industry.
