Life is "all aspects" all the time--no one lives in one dimension. The "all aspects of the industry" approach equates learning to living.By changing programs' expectations of students, AAI can help students to change their expectations of themselves and give them the opportunity to envision themselves as movers and shakers, as people who can make a difference in the world around them. At the same time, it can give them the skills and knowledge to actually make that difference. With a strong understanding of planning and finance, of technologies and the principles that underlie them, of community and labor issues, students cannot only adapt to changes, they can proactively contribute to positive change.--Christopher Dyer
Corporate and Creative Services
Boston, Massachusetts
They can also formulate and cope with changes in their career plans. As the Milwaukee team notes in its case study,
While we would like to think all of our graduates will continue with careers in hospitality, we know this isn't true. The "meat" of AAI is in all industries. What our students understand about finance in the hospitality industry they will be able to transfer as they make career changes.Unfortunately, many students live and study in areas with few employment opportunities, particularly high-wage opportunities. They emerge from the school building everyday to see dilapidated houses and abandoned factories. AAI gives these students the opportunity and skills to analyze what is happening and what they would like to see instead. It does not assume that they will go to where employers are, but, rather, improves their capacity to develop their own businesses and to contribute to community economic development efforts. As Dorothy Williams, Principal of Flower Vocational High School in Chicago, tells her students, "Why leave your community? Why not stay here and make it the community you want it to be?"