On June 3, 2011, Hospitality High School celebrated its 10th graduating class. Alumni, Board Members, industry representatives, faculty and staff, as well as families were in attendance at the commencement exercises for the Class of 2011. Held at the Renaissance Washington hotel, graduates were showered with inspiring words, song & speech, and even computers, as the Hotel Association of Washington gifted each college-bound member of the graduating class with a brand new laptop.

In keeping with Principal McBride’s promise to “give [the graduates] a preview of the future and a glimpse back to the past”, several alumni took to the stage to share their stories of transitioning from HHS to college. In addition, many more of the school’s alumni, now close to 300, were in attendance to cheer on the class of 2011 as they took a giant step forward.

The keynote speaker for the evening was DC Council Chair Kwame Brown, who spoke of the transition from high school to adulthood and the significance of having mentors and guidance. His speech again fit with the theme of the evening as he called on members of the hospitality industry to make sure that there would be jobs available for our alumni when they come back from college.

Many of the evening’s graduates earned scholarships to help ease the transition to their post-secondary studies, and since the first graduating class of 2002, HHS graduating seniors have earned over $1 million in scholarships.