RPA students explore Suttle Lake Lodge, learn about hospitality industry

This week, Laurel Eberhart’s Hospitality and Tourism class and Mark Speck’s Intro to Business classes visited The Suttle Lake Lodge outside of Sisters. Students were toured around the property by event coordinator Maddie Hill and were able to ask questions about the hospitality industry and the lodge. 

“It was awesome to see the students engaging with Maddie – they had lots of questions about jobs, events and how the lodge adapts between seasons,” said CTE Instructor Laurel Eberhart.  “Not to mention, spending the sunny morning walking the grounds around a frozen over lake, surrounded by pine trees was tough to beat.” 

The RPA CTE Business program aims to help students learn about the unique entrepreneurial options Central Oregon provides. Resorts and outdoor recreation is a prominent and in demand industry in this area. 

“It is helpful to learn things in the classroom and then make connections to how it works in the real world. Discovering how Suttle Lake managed operations and focused on their unique brand was really interesting,” said business student Sebastian Mente.

The RPA business program offers a variety of unique classes and culminates with a BA 101 college course offered at RPA.

“I really enjoy helping students take a college level class on campus and to help them learn how a strong business acumen can provide opportunities to make a positive impact on the world,” said CTE instructor Mark Speck.