Terry Cooke receives Chairperson’s Award of Excellence by the Alberta Apprentice and Industry Training Board

Terry, whose long and distinguished skills related career began in the 1980s, has been presented with the 2020 Chairperson’s Award of Excellence by the Alberta Apprentice and Industry Training Board.

The award recognizes his contribution to Alberta’s apprentice and industry training system, which includes  Dean, School of Business at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), and founding member of Skills Canada Alberta and WorldSkills Calgary 2009.

His other positions include Skills/Compétences Canada Board Secretary between1991 and 1994 and President from 2004-2010.

He was the Skills/Compétences Canada Official Delegate to WorldSkills from 2003 until his election to the WorldSkills Board in 2011 where he currently serves as a Board member for Strategic Development.

“Terry has always believed wholeheartedly in the importance of skills development for our youth, and he coupled that belief with action. He was the driving force behind many activities, including WorldSkills Calgary 2009,” said Shaun Thorson, CEO, Skills/Compétences Canada. “I can’t think of a more deserving recipient of this prestigious award.”

The Chairperson’s Award of Excellence “recognizes and honours individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary dedication and commitment to their trade and to the apprenticeship and industry training system through outstanding service as a member of the industry advisory system.”

It also acknowledges “outstanding commitment and dedication to the success of apprentices, and in turn, the success of the Apprenticeship and Industry Training System.”

Calling the award “a huge honour,” Terry paid tribute to Alberta’s apprenticeship system, which he called “the best in North America.”

He also paid tribute to all those who have served in the province’s education and training programs, “who have carried the message to our youth that ‘hands-on-learning’ is the foundation on which every community and career is built.”

To be compared with them, he said, was “incredibly humbling.”

He added, “if one, and only one, young person found their passion because of something I said or did - then everything over the last 30 years was worth it!”