For high schoolers, it’s trial by ‘LiveFire’

With just months before college begins, a trio of Wayland High School graduates will likely take any chance they get to have laundry done for them.

When it comes time to separate whites and colors, however, they should be ready.

Laundry training is just one of several chores Jonathan Kazarian, Matthew Lombardo and Tyler Fisher took on last week as part of a pilot program at InterContinental Boston hotel immersing high school students in the hospitality industry.

The brainchild of General Manager Tim Kirwan, "LiveFire" saw the teens learn all aspects of the trade – from check-in to check-out – during a seven-day, six-night stay in the downtown hotel.

“I never realized all the details that went into it all,” said Fisher, who will attend Delaware. “So much goes into making it run smoothly.”

Fisher said he enjoyed meeting with the heads of each department, while the other two raved about the work in the kitchen.

Fittingly, Lombardo’s friends praise the calzones and pizza he makes from scratch in his family home. With that kind of talent already in place, it may take this sort of a program to flip a switch, Kirwan said.

“We wanted to give them an immersion option that would either hook ‘em or kill ‘em,” Kirwan said, jokingly referring to the intensity of the program.

After working in what they called a “brutal heat” that had them racing waters to diners on the deck, the three appeared hooked. Whether they can get out that ink stain come September remains to be seen.