CHARLESTON, W.Va. — High school students in West Virginia are getting ready to attend the inaugural Governor’s School for Tourism.
Ninth and tenth grade students who were selected from all 55 counties will start the program at Independence Hall in Wheeling on Thursday which is West Virginia Day.
State Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said it’s a two-week camp where students will travel the state to learn about a number of tourism and hospitality jobs.
“They are going to do everything from meet with the zookeepers at Oglebay to meet with small business owners on the Hatfield-McCoy trails to visiting state and national parks. It is truly an incredible itinerary,” Ruby told MetroNews Wednesday.
The Governor’s Schools program began in 1984 to provide students the chance to explore the arts, sciences and culture in partnership with the state Department of Education. This is the first year for the Governor’s School for Tourism (GST).
Ruby said this is part of a larger effort to ensure the state has the workers to fill job openings in the growing tourism industry.
“We have as many as 20,000 annual job openings expected in the tourism and hospitality industry over the next three years so what we’re doing is starting with students trying to make sure that we have students that know about these jobs and are interested in them,” she said.
Current programs taking place now include the Governor’s Computer Science Institute at West Virginia University and the Governor’s Honors Academy at Fairmont State University.
Upcoming programs are listed below:
Governor’s School for Literacy through Arts, Culture and History
June 23 – June 28
West Virginia Culture Center and West Virginia State University
Governor’s School for the Arts
June 23 – July 13
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Governor’s School of Entrepreneurship
July 7 – July 21
Marshall University
Governor’s STEM Institute – Session 1
July 6 – July 13
West Virginia University
Governor’s STEM Institute – Session 2
July 14 – July 21
West Virginia University
Governor’s STEM Institute
July 7 – July 20
Green Bank Observatory
Ruby said GST is different from the other schools because it gives students the opportunity to travel the state to learn what sets it apart from other travel destinations. She said this is more than just a recruiting tool for tourism workers.
“We understand that not every student that’s in this Governor’s School is going to grow up and be in the hospitality industry in West Virginia, but our hope is that some of them will and that every single one of them will be an ambassador for West Virginia tourism and leave camp loving West Virginia a little more than they started,” she said.
More than 500 students are participating in the Governor’s Schools this year.