Tuesday, May 18, 2010, Calgary, Alberta - SAIT’s skills team walked away with 38 medals after a successful showing at the Provincial Skills Canada Competition held in Edmonton last week.

Haley Lonsdale, a second-year Hospitality Management student, was the gold medal winner in the restaurant service category. She has been training three times a week since January in preparation for her event. Lonsdale believes it was her intense practice schedule that contributed to her success at Provincials.

 “During the competition I felt very confident in my abilities due to all of the training I had received. Like any competition there were butterflies and a little bit of anxiety, but once I started completing the tasks at hand most of the butterflies disappeared,” says Lonsdale. “I think I was more nervous once the competition was over and we had to wait to find out the results.”

The results were golden for her and 14 other SAIT gold medal winners who will head to Kitchener-Waterloo to participate in the Canadian Skills Competition later this week as part of Team Alberta.

In addition to the trip to nationals, Lonsdale and fellow Team Alberta members also receive a $500 scholarship thanks to a $1.5 million legacy donation from WorldSkills Calgary 2009. Each year, 86 awards worth a total of $75,000 will be distributed to Alberta youth to further their studies in skilled trades. Any member of Team Alberta who goes on to win at the national level will receive another $500 scholarship from the legacy fund. Recipients will be entitled to use the awards to pursue post-secondary education in any field of study nationwide.

Nino Belvedere, Apprenticeship Coordinator for SAIT, says the legacy scholarships are an added incentive for future trades workers to participate in skills competitions.

“The WorldSkills Legacy Scholarships will instill an ‘Own the Podium’ attitude and encourage tradespeople to complete their technical training and obtain their journeyperson’s certificate.”

More than 500 competitors in the skilled trades and technologies will compete at nationals for a chance to be named to Team Canada, which will go on to compete at the next WorldSkills competition, held in London, England in 2011. 

Lonsdale is looking forward to competing at the national level.

“I feel very proud and honoured to represent SAIT at nationals. The training and support I have received at SAIT will be reflected through my service as a testament to the great teachers and training resources that SAIT has to offer.”

SAIT Polytechnic is one of Canada’s most exciting destinations for post-secondary education, offering more than 100 career programs that position people for success in technology, trades and business. A leader in innovation, SAIT also collaborates with industry on applied research and delivers corporate training worldwide. SAIT is a member of Polytechnics Canada and one of Alberta’s Top 50 Employers for 2011.

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