Lakeland Link: March 21, 2011

March 21, 2011

The

www.lakelandcollege.ca

A publication of Lakeland College

Vermilion • Lloydminster

Our MISSION To inspire our learners to realize their individual potential. Our VISION To achieve educational excellence in a people-centred environment. Our VALUES are Respect, Safety, Trust, Pride, Ethics, Quality and Accountability.

Upcoming Events

Celebrations of student success & accomplishment

Lloydminster campus Wednesday, March 23 • Student Awards Night. Cafeteria. 6:30 pm

Thursday, March 31 • University transfer program orientation.

Room BK112. 6 to 9 pm • Business program orientation.

Room BK116. 6 pm

Vermilion campus Friday, March 25 • Office Administration program info day.

Room BB129/130. 9:45 am to 2 pm

Friday, April 1 • Western Ranch & Cow Horse program info day. Indoor Riding Arena. 10 am.

Monday, April 4 • Human Services Mix & Mingle. An information day for Child & Youth Care, Early Learning & Child Care and Educational Assistant programs.

Room BB129/130. 9:45 am to 2:30 pm

Lakeland In Your Town Info Sessions It will be time well spent for parents, school counsellors and high school students looking for post-secondary options.

Tenille Christie, president of the Lloydminster campus Students' Association, and Dean Judy Sarsons congratulate student Maurice Cuny during the Dean's Tea on March 8.

At the event, 46 university transfer students were recognized for making the Dean's Honour Roll in the fall semester. Twenty-seven students were also recognized as candidates for an associate diploma which marks the completion of 60 transferable credits in the university transfer program.

• Thursday, March 24. John Paul II High School, Fort Saskatchewan. 7 to 9 pm • Wednesday, March 30. Blessed Sacrament School, Wainwright. 7 to 9 pm Go to www.lakelandcollege.ca/infosessions or call 1 800 661 6490.

is published biweekly from September to May by the department of Advancement for staff and members of the college community. Submissions regarding college news and initiatives are welcome and published at the editor's discretion. The deadline for submission is Thursday at noon prior to the publication date. The Lakeland Link is available in Outlook's Public Folders and online at www.lakelandcollege.ca/link.

Interior design technology student Claire Beatty of Edgerton received the Craig Brothers Award from John Stewart during the Vermilion Campus Awards Celebration on March 9. Craig’s of Vermilion has the distinction of being the longest consecutive donor to the college’s student awards program. The Craig Brothers Award was first presented in 1927.

Since then, almost 100 students have benefitted from this company’s support.

A word from Glenn's desk I had a very good trip to Regina recently to talk about our Heavy Oil project. This project remains the college's top priority and it is being well received by both government and industry. The next step is to complete the detailed business and program plan and we have already begun the process. Once completed, the next step will be design which we hope can begin this summer.

Two major college events took place in the last 10 days. The Dean's Tea at the Lloydminster campus was a great success as Dean Judy Sarsons congratulated our university transfer students on their accomplishments. The Awards Night at the Vermilion campus set record attendance.

Award winners and donors spoke to me about how nice the evening was.

I also had the opportunity to meet with the board and senior officers of the Glenn Charlesworth Canadian Foundation for Innovation at Lakeland College president a reception in Edmonton. This gave me the chance to speak with them, members of Alberta Innovates Technology Futures and senior staff from Advanced Education and Technology about Lakeland's work in research and innovation. We are hoping to become a lead partner in the East Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network. My thanks to Diane Harms who helped prepare our college messages for the meeting.

Thanks also to the folks in our HR department who hosted a terrific St. Patrick's Day Tea. The event was very well attended and there was a veritable cornucopia of food.

The next couple of weeks coming up has me attending some very exciting meetings. I will be in Calgary to talk with CNRL about our heavy oil facility. I will also be going to Onion Lake to meet with Chief Fox and other community leaders to talk about partnership opportunities.

More on these meetings in the next edition of the Link.

People & places Congratulations to Judy Eyben who received the New Professionals Award from the provincial Residence Life Professional Association (RLPA) last week. The award recognizes outstanding leadership and contributions to residence life. Nominees are from across Alberta. Recipients must be working full-time at a post secondary institution, be actively involved in residence life activities and the RLPA, show innovation and creativity in their residence life work, and demonstrate significant leadership potential in the residence life field.

Lakeland College will be well represented at this year's conference hosted by the Alberta Rural Development Network April 12 to 14 at Edmonton. Wendy Plandowski will be giving a presentation about creating successful community partnerships, Rob Baron, Sean McInroy and Diane Harms will be sharing their work on an integrated solar and wind electricity generation project being done for the community of Elk Point's visitor information centre, and Jason Dewling will be emceeing the event.

Lakeland College along with Alberta's other post-secondary institutions is a partner of the ARDN. For more information about the conference go to www.ardn.ca.

The band, Detour, which includes Lakeland staffers Rob Baron, Greg Plant and Barry Sherwood along with community residents Carmela McDonald and Denis Gerik, did their part to support performing arts programs in the Lloydminster community. The group provided the entertainment at Lloydminster’s Mardi Gras, a fundraising event hosted by the Friends of the Performing Arts on Feb. 21 at the Lloydminster Exhibition Grounds. Lakeland’s event management students also helped organize the Mardi Gras event and were instrumental in conducting sponsorship solicitation, public relations and advertising activities, ticket and merchandising sales, as well as set up and tear down.

A message of appreciation

Words are inadequate to express my thanks to our Lakeland College family for the acts of kindness and support I have received during this difficult time.

I will be forever grateful.

Doug Elliott Chairman, Board of Governors

More HR webinars for staff Enjoy a learning lunch with webinars from Rockhurst University. All sessions run from noon to 1:15 pm in rooms AL 204 (Vermilion campus) and 2012 (Lloydminster campus). Everyone is welcome. Topics and dates are: March 24: Dealing with the dreaded "C": Conflict in the workplace March 28: Business etiquette 101 April 6: Business writing essentials: How to make your point clearly and concisely April 7: Creative team-building ideas & activities April 11: Critical thinking and problem solving skills April 14: Extinguishing burnout and eliminating job overload April 20: Mastering Excel functions and formulas April 26: Managing chaos and pressure at work April 29: How to present your ideas effectively To register, email Theresa Berg in the human resources department.

St. Paddy's Day cheer Theresa Berg was the hostess with the mostest as she hands Laura Somerville a glass of punch at the St. Patrick's Day Tea hosted by the college's HR department.

Centennial trek

I'm goin' in For the first time at the Vermilion campus, Lakeland College's Emergency Training Centre offered a NFPA 1006 course in confined space rescue. The course ran March 14 to 18 and was led by ETC instructor Cary Wiemer. Participants in the specialized course included four members of Medicine Hat's municipal fire department as well as other ETC staff wanting to expand their skills. Pictured above ETC’s Thomas St. John is lowered by a tripod into a confined space area to monitor air quality. The exercise was executed on ETC’s multilevel technical rescue training prop at the Vermilion campus. Other activity at ETC this month included a new group of firefighting students who began their studies March 14 at the Vermilion campus. Students in the course hail from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.

Lakeland College will be getting people in the mood to party this parade season for the centennial.

Plans to spread the word about the college's centennial in 2013 are taking shape. This year in Lloydminster and Vermilion, the college's SmartCar will be dressed in a party hat and centennial logos for community parades. Next year, it will expand its parade route to other communities as well.

This fall, new centennial college letterhead and decals will be introduced.

These will be available for all departments to use for the next two years.

The list of souvenir items is in the works.

Items will relate to historical activities and to events being held during 20122013. Examples are a toboggan Christmas ornament as a memento of the college's record-breaking longest toboggan event, wine glasses or wine charms with the college's four historical logos, etc. The list of centennial souvenir items will be finalized once budget is determined.

Thank you to staff who took part in the souvenir/promotional items idea survey.

Your input is acting as a helpful guide for the selection process.

Guidelines for public REACT screen messages Welcoming distinguished guests to Lakeland, notifying students of important deadlines, and announcing major college events are among the items that will be posted on the REACT monitors throughout the Vermilion and Lloydminster campuses.

"We have limited the number of messages that will run at one time to seven so people can read all the important announcements in a minute or less," says Colleen Symes, communications coordinator. "If there is an emergency message, that notification will override all others."

Messages may be sent to Val Smith at the Vermilion campus and Samantha Hannah at the Lloydminster campus. Please send the event a week in advance of when you want it to appear. Events that meet the following criteria will be posted: • Critical deadlines for students. For example, dates for dropping or adding classes or applying for scholarships.

• Welcome to a distinguished guest or industry representative who is on campus.

• Major college events such as convocation, homecoming, information evening, awards night, ACAC championship event.

• Welcome incoming students.

For more information, contact Colleen Symes at ext. 8544.

Hot off the press The latest issue of the Lakeland xL is now available. Alumni and friends of the college will find it in their mailboxes this week. It can also be found online at www.lakelandcollege.ca.

Students prepare to experience Mexican secondary school system A live-the-learning experience for nine university transfer students will cross international boundaries after their final exams when they leave the Lloydminster campus to go to Mexico.

From May 1 to 8, the students along with university transfer instructor Kelly Mutter will travel to Ensenada, Mexico, to visit public and private schools, indigenous and community schools, and migrant camp schools. At the schools, the Lakeland students will observe Mexican classrooms, instructional methods, and in some cases, assist teachers and students.

“We also plan to take with us teaching tools such as games, manipulatives or resources that we can leave at the Mexican schools for students, teachers and families to use,” adds Mutter.

They may also have opportunity to teach students–who will be primarily at the elementary grade level–English as a second language.

Mutter says the Mexican experience is intended to give Lakeland students a firsthand look at how educational systems function in environments that have diverse socioeconomic factors and limited available resources. In addition to increasing the Canadian students’ global awareness which will help them later in their careers, the experience will also give students insight into concepts relating to global inequity, sociology and psychology.

“All of the students making the trip are planning to go into careers in the teaching or helping professions such as social work or health care,” says Mutter. “This trip will let them witness how limited resources and social and economic disparity impacts the learning processes of students, and the functionality and capacity of educational systems. It will give our students a better understanding of global inequity instead of just reading about it in a text book.”

And if anyone expects this trip to be a laze-on-the-beach holiday, they’ll be disappointed.

“This will not be the typical Mexican all-inclusive resort experience,” says Mutter. In fact, they’ll be living in the heart of the nation. During their stay, the Lakeland group will live in the Mexican coastal town with Ensenada residents Randy and Sandy Hubert. Previously from Lloydminster, the Huberts moved to Mexico about three years ago to work with area missionaries, orphanages and schools. Sandy was also a teacher in Lloydminster’s public school system.

In addition to helping in schools, the

Mexico bound in May for their global live-the-learning experience are (front row left to right) Sara Willman, Brandy Old, Brandi Leibel, (back row) Tenille Christie, Megan L’Heureux, Jenna-Lee Morin, Krista Boser and Kelly Mutter (instructor). Missing are Maria Sarcauga and Tamara Dallman.

community and migrant camps, the Lakeland students will have a chance to experience the local culture. They’ll take an authentic Mexican cooking class, shop for a feeding program at a traditional Mexican market, prepare a meal for an indigenous community and serve it to mothers and children.

While the trip promises to be an experience of a lifetime for the students, Mutter expects that it will also enrich his capacity as an instructor.

“As a teacher in Canada, environments and conditions encountered at schools

Double double Sisters Amber and Deandra Sachura got a chance to snuggle twin lambs during Lakeland College's Ag Citing at the Vermilion campus on March 11.

The human pair travelled from Yorkton, Sask., to attend the event. Ag Citing is an annual event that showcases the college's agricultural sciences programs, facilities and livestock herds. Visitors tour the college farm and have a chance to speak with faculty and staff. The event also coincides with the Western Canadian 4-H & Intercollegiate Judging competition and Lakeland College's Little Royal Rodeo.

are somewhat predictable,” says Mutter.

“This experience will certainly stretch the boundaries of my own personal experience as an educator. The circumstances and situations that I’ll see in Mexico will be very different than in Canada. This direct exposure and firsthand experience to what schools, children and families deal with everyday will help me better convey to my students concepts and theories about sociology, educational psychology and global inequity in a more meaningful way. I have very high hopes for this project.”

Cultivating new ideas for a greener Lakeland with Enviro Club’s roof project As Lakeland College’s Enviro Club members prepare to host the Green Cup on April 1 to 3, they are also in the midst of launching an innovative environmental project—one of several that will be supported by the club’s annual fundraiser.

The Enviro Club’s newest project is a green roof project for the Vermilion campus.

Green roofs involve creating contained green spaces on top of building structures where plants can grow. They involve water proofing and root repellent systems, drainage systems, filter cloths, lightweight growing medium and plants.

Green roof technology is well established in Europe and is just starting to make inroads in North America.

Robin Lagroix-McLean, the club’s faculty advisor, says the club has wanted to do this project for some time, and instead of launching it on a large scale, the club has decided to try it out first on buildings of a smaller scale.

“The students will carry out the green roof project using six mini buildings using a dog house design. Because green roof buildings have to be able to support the added weight of soil, water and plants, there are special engineering and construction requirements that have to be built into the structures.”

Tapping into the construction area of expertise, the students worked with Lakeland carpentry instructor Trevor Provick. He helped club members build the mini-houses during a weekend. Kevin Romeo, an instructor in environmental sciences, also lent a hand.

On the roofs of each of the six small buildings, the students will attempt to grow native plants such as grasses and

What is Green Cup? Green Cup street hockey challenge is a fundraiser of the Lakeland College Enviro Club. This year’s event is in the Vermilion Arena, April 1 to 3. It kicks off Friday at 7 pm with a celebrity game between Lakeland staff and The GOAT 106.1 FM. Lakeland hopes to keep their winning streak alive so new and energetic staff recruits are welcome. If you’d like to play, contact instructor Peter Walsh or environmental sciences student Tom Tarrant.

Event sponsors include Lakeland College, Prairie Place Liquor Store, the Ole’ Liquor Store and Nick’s Restaurant.

For more information, go to www. lakelandenviroclub.com.

Chelsea Gatzke, a member of the Lakeland College Enviro Club and a student in the bachelor of applied science: environmental management program puts her construction skills to the test as she builds one of the green roof structures at the Vermilion campus.

forbs (herbaceous flowering plants). The native plant seed was donated by ALCLA Native Plant Restoration from Calgary.

The students will also be experimenting with varying soil depths on the roofs as they transplant the plants currently growing in growth rooms. This will help determine the optimum amount of soil that would best support green roof growing conditions for the northeastern Alberta climate.

After the students plant the green roofs in April, the buildings will remain inside the college facilities until outdoor temperatures get warmer. In mid-May,

Exploring the field at Enviro Citing About 60 prospective students and parents interested in the college environmental sciences programs had a chance to get their hands dirty in the college's soils lab and talk with current students during Enviro Citing held at the Vermilion campus March 11.

Visitors were also able to tour the campus, hear about career paths from alumni, and chat with faculty. The day camp hosted by staff and students in the adventure tourism and outdoor recreation program was also a popular attraction. To view more photos, become a fan of Lakeland College Canada on Facebook.

the students will relocate the mini-house structures complete with their green roofs to the Vermilion campus’s quadrangle so that other college students, staff and visitors can learn and monitor the project.

“The students are really committed to the project and they wanted to do something that has the potential to be ongoing, and possibly grow into something bigger.

Depending on this year’s results, we may look at doing a green roof on a larger building on campus,” says LagroixMcLean.

The overall cost of this year’s project is about $1,200.

Student honoured with award at ACTWS conference

Lakeland alum Brian Keating (centre), a world-renowned author, conservationist and speaker, joined second-year students in Lakeland College's environmental sciences program (wildlife and fisheries conservation major) for a group photo at the Alberta Chapter of Wildlife Society conference March 11 to 13. Joining them for the photo are instructor Chris Olsen and other Lakeland alum Jim Allen, Alex Parker and Colleen Campbell.

Renowned Lakeland alum shares global views at ACTWS

A familiar face enlightened, entertained and thrilled second-year environmental sciences students from Lakeland College and delegates at the Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society conference, March 11 to 13 at Camrose.

Brian Keating, a 1976 Lakeland graduate was a keynote speaker at the conference.

Now retired, he headed conservation outreach at the Calgary Zoo. He is also an internationally recognized author, conservationist and speaker. Keating's presentation at the conference, “It’s that Old Cat/Dog Thing,” addressed how the behaviour of wild cats and dogs impact farming and ranching populations in North American and other parts of the world including Africa, the Himalayas and the Arctic.

In the last 25 years, Keating and his wife, Dee, have travelled deep into the wilds of nearly 20 African countries. On several safaris, they’ve encountered several animals such as the Cape Hunting Dog, Africa’s wolf-equivalent and one of the world’s rarest of large carnivores. He has also travelled in the high mountains of the Himalaya in search of the elusive Snow Leopard.

With both carnivores, local herders and farmers have endured livestock raids that parallel our own Western Canadian difficulties with cougar and wolf. During his presentation, Keating also discussed how locals in different cultures have come to terms with their frustrations and ways to minimize herd loss. In his wide-ranging, high-energy and always entertaining style, Keating used original DVD footage to show rare behavior and footage of the African Painted Wolf, and even of the rare and elusive Tibetan Snow Leopard. Brian showed amazing footage of Whooping Crane breeding behavior. He also donned ceremonial African robes during his presentation to drive home his connection to the African communities and his travel and aid work that happened during his remarkable career.

The Lakeland students, all majoring in wildlife and fisheries conservation, attended the ACTWS conference as part of their program experience. Each year second-year class members attend the event and often are able to connect with other Lakeland alumni.

This year, alumni from six class-years were present.

Lakeland students and alumni are also active in other aspects of the ACTWS. Its incoming Alberta Chapter president, Jim Allen, is a Lakeland grad from 1977. Lakeland grad Kayla Balderson (2009), who transferred from Lakeland to the University of Alberta’s bachelor of science environmental conservation program (conservation biology major), is president of the ACTWS's U of A chapter. She and Jason Calvert (2007) also headed the U of A Chapter’s Urban Deer Study.

Brian Keating in African robes.

It was a great event for T. J. Rempel, a second-year environmental sciences student. Last week at the Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society (ACTWS) event, the wildlife and fisheries conservation major received the Bob Goddard Memorial award valued at $1,500.

Instructor Chris Olsen says the external scholarship is always a coup for Lakeland students for many reasons.

"The award has a significant monetary value and the winner is profiled at the ACTWS annual general meeting," says Olsen. Previous Lakeland winners are Jacqueline Kostal (2002), Myra Chubak (2004), Stuart Morrison (2006) and Jason Calvert (2007).

Bob Goddard was an enthusiastic and well-respected wildlife technician who died in a vehicle accident in the 1990s.

The memorial award is based on academic achievement, volunteer or work experience in the wildlife field, involvement with the ACTWS, career goals, and faculty recommendation.

As a student, Rempel demonstrates leadership, involvement and innovation, says Olsen. He is president of the Outdoor Recreation Club and is an active community volunteer with the Nordic Ski Club and the Camp Wainwright hunt.

Rempel's innovative field work on a windmill project helped him win the award. After taking a limnology course last winter, Rempel applied his learning to Vermilion’s problematic Trout Pond.

He devised a strategy to ameliorate the chronic nutrient loading and winter kill with a windmill aeration system.

On his own initiative, he worked with suppliers to design and cost a system and wrote a project proposal to pitch to various clubs, service groups and community businesses for support. His effort resulted in five funding partners.

Rempel's system, now purchased, will be fully installed this spring.

Lakeland student T. J. Rempel receives the Bob Goddard Memorial Award from Tammy MacMillan, ACTWS awards chair, at the society's annual conference last week.

Ag Tour Club says "You better Belize it!"

Brittany Carey (left), Holly Schuk (centre) and Jeremy Pashniak (right) with other CLRA award recipients.

CLRA awards students Three Lakeland environmental sciences students received $1,000 awards at the 2011 Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA) Alberta Chapter conference and annual general meeting, The awards are sponsored by companies in the environmental industry. Holly Schuk received an award from Sapphire Enterprises Ltd,, and Brittany Carey received an award from I. W. Kuhn Environmental Ltd. They are both environmental conservation and reclamation majors. Jeremy Pashniak, a student in the bachelor of applied science: environmental management program, also received a $1,000 award from industry co-sponsor, Devon Canada Ltd. Lakeland students and faculty attend the CLRA conference and AGM each year as a valuable networking opportunity. This year's event, March 2 to 4 in Red Deer, had more than 800 attendees. The theme was “Chasing the Bar” which focused on the reclamation community’s common sense approach to regulation, cooperative development of policies, integrated government decisions and shared research to address common issues.

Instructors Luke Laurence, Lee Arthur, Allen Verbeek and Nikki Cook went with their students to the conference. In total, 23 attendees represented Lakeland College at the industry event.

Over 50 Lakeland grads were also at the conference. All have great jobs and are established members of the reclamation community. Employers expressed their satisfaction with our graduates.

More awards announced March 8 honoured three Lakeland faculty and staff members. Congratulations to Geoff Brown, Tracy Quinton and Jeff Zhao.

They received respectively the Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence in Animal Sciences, the Staff Appreciation Award, and the AUPE Local 071 Chapter 004 Award. Congratulations to all.

This year’s Ag Tour Club had another successful year fundraising to help support our travels to learn about the different means of agricultural production in other parts of the world.

Last month, club President Cole Siegle, instructors Tracy Quinton and Todd Ree and 19 club members engaged in one of the club's best trips yet. This year, the club expanded its borders beyond the United States and decided to endure the long trip to Central America to the small country of Belize.

The year's fundraising efforts began with the club's annual Get Smashed A furry friend offers Lakeland's car-smashing/sumo wrestling event and Devon Simmelink a fruity snack in Belize. steak supper. This was followed by the haunted corn maze, raffle ticket sales and the snow pitch tournament. All activities had good turn outs and were lots of fun for everyone. Other smaller fundraisers included popcorn and chocolate bar sales, security duties and a bull sale concession.

The club left for Belize on February 20 and returned to Canada February 27. During this time, the group embarked on many exciting adventures. Because club members were lucky enough to have two local contacts in Belize―Lakeland alumni Stewart and Rodney Dyck―they were able to see Belize in a way that not every tourist gets to see. The group was able to talk to local farmers/workers and listen as they explained their businesses whether it was crops, livestock, forestry, a citrus farm or a citrus juicing facility.

Learning about Belize's diverse wildlife was also a big part of their trip. Students saw scorpions, monkeys, raccoons, jaguars, parrots and some students had the opportunity to hold a young crocodile that their guide had caught for them. Some also had the chance to feed wild monkeys that came onto their boat during the trip upriver to the Mayan Ruins.

For the students, it was the experience of a lifetime. In addition to the tour's agriculture component, students went cave tubing, toured the Mayan Ruins, and swam in a dam with a “water slide” which was really part of the dam covered in slippery algae.

Because Belize is a small country, the students saw a large portion of it in a short amount of time. But when they departed back to Canada, there was still much they hadn’t done.

"Seven days is just not enough time to be able to discover and experience all the beauty that Belize embraces," says student Jenna Leibel, student and Ag Tour Club member.

"We definitely had a ton of fun though and the trip was an awesome time. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we would go back. This year’s trip was certainly a success and we hope next year will be even better!"

Ag Tour Club members at the Mayan Ruins in Belize. The club travelled in February.

Lakeland’s Sambu named ACAC Coach of the Year Born in Lisbon, Portugal, basketball was an unknown sport to the young Peter Sambu. Little did he know that in later years he’d be named 2011 Coach of the Year in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North Division.

Sambu is head coach of Lakeland College’s Rustlers men’s basketball team.

This is his first year at the Rustlers’ helm and his second tour of duty at Lakeland.

He was associate coach of the men’s team from 2005 to 2006 under the leadership of then head coach Phil Allen.

Sambu was introduced to basketball in 1978 as a Grade 6 student in Toronto, Ont., after his family moved to Canada.

He instantly fell in love with the sport.

In Grade 7, his gym teacher told him to go to a local drop in community centre and this is where Sambu began to play competitively. He continued to play through high school capping off his high school career as part of the 4A Ontario Senior Boys High School champions Runnymead Redmen.

In 1987, he was recruited to join the SAIT Trojans in Calgary and played there for four years. His experience at SAIT helped him develop his own coaching style and philosophy.

“When I was at SAIT, I had the opportunity to play for Phil Allen, who is, in my mind, one of the best coaches in the country,” says Sambu. “I learned a lot from him about how to coach teams and prepare players. Much of what I do today and much of my coaching philosophy comes from what I learned from Phil.”

In 1999, Sambu was named SAIT’s head coach. He recalls the experience of coaching his first game to be surreal.

“I still remember it. It was a very big day.

We were playing Medicine Hat College and about 20 minutes into the half, it struck me. I couldn’t believe I was on the bench as a college head coach,” says Sambu. “It was almost unbelievable to me.”

Since then, Sambu has assembled an impressive resumé. From 2003, he coached two U.S. college teams and two other Canadian college teams. He also coached at the pro-level including the Edmonton Energy in the International Basketball League, and the Gary, Indiana Steelheads in the United States Basketball League.

With his return to Lakeland, Sambu has been able to develop the Rustlers squad to be a young fast-paced team that Lakeland

Lakeland head coach Peter Sambu watches the play of his men's team during a recent ACAC game. Sambu is this year's Coach of the Year in the ACAC North Division. Rustlers men's basketball is based at the Lloydminster campus.

fans love to support.

“Peter’s team is a direct reflection of his energy and passion for the game,” says Aaron Rawlake, athletics supervisor at the college. “His players play hard for him because they respect his knowledge and love of the sport. Peter genuinely cares for his players on and off the court and he works tirelessly to help them succeed in the classroom and to become great young men.”

And what are Sambu’s thoughts about being named Coach of the Year?

“Of course it’s very humbling but individual awards never trumps team success,” says Sambu. “At the beginning of the season, our goal was to be competitive and do our best. I believe we have done that. As a coach, I hope I’m helping to give my players an experience at Lakeland that is just as positive. I hope what they learn at the college will help them find success in whatever they do whether it is on the basketball court or later on in their careers.

“At this point in my career, I can honestly say I bleed green and gold. I’ve had so many positive experiences and

opportunities come my way because of basketball and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I’ve had at Lakeland.

I really appreciate all the support from everyone here including Aaron Rawlake, Alan Rogan, Phil Allen and Glenn Charlesworth. I hope that in the future, I can help be a part of building a successful basketball program that will make Lakeland a solid championship contender for years to come.”

Before you add the college logo ...

Call the marketing department (ext. 8821).

They can help ensure it complies with the college's visual identity guidelines.

A Lakeland minute Available in Public Folders are minutes from the Feb. 10 and 24 Executive Team meetings. Minutes and reports from the Jan. 24 Board of Governors meeting are also available.