Where would we be without volunteers? At Skills Canada-Ontario, we rely on the support of literally hundreds of people who work tirelessly, without pay, to help make a complex, multi-day event such as the OTSC run smoothly.
While we value and appreciate every single one of our family of volunteers, it is our pleasure to honour one individual each year at the Closing Ceremony for the Ontario Technological Skills Competition with a special award to recognize their outstanding contributions to our organization.
This award is named for Glenn Beatty, a competitor in the Precision Machining contest at the 1997 OTSC. Glenn earned a gold medal at that year’s OTSC, then went on to achieve the same stellar level of success at the Canadian Skills Competition in Red Deer, Alberta.
Glenn Beatty’s talents in Precision Machining not only earned him top marks at these provincial and national skills competitions; they also landed him a job at ATS Automation Tooling Systems in Cambridge, despite his young age. Energetic and big-hearted, Glenn decided to give back to our organization by becoming a volunteer, so in 1998 Skills Canada – Ontario was the beneficiary of his enormous help at that year’s OTSC as a Marshal.
Tragically, this kind and vibrant young man was taken from us in a motor vehicle accident in January 1999. That same year, the Board of Directors of Skills Canada-Ontario created the Glenn Beatty Award in his name, as a way to pay tribute to his memory and to honour other exceptional volunteers who embody the same generous spirit that was such an integral part of who Glenn was.
This year’s recipient of the Glenn Beatty award is a gentleman who has become a fixture and familiar face in the Robotics contest. It is our great pleasure and privilege to honour Bob Tone, Technical Chair of the Robotics Contest, as this year’s recipient of the Glenn Beatty Award.
Robotics is one of the most labour-intensive contests hosted at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition and Bob has embraced this role as the Technical Committee Chair at the provincial level. The dedication he has to this contest is second only to the passion he has to the field of robotics. He has ensured that Robotics is one of the most successful contests at the provincial and national Skills competitions, and has recently been approved as a World Expert who will be contributing to Worldskills 2011.
On top of facilitating the Robotics contest, Bob also coordinates the registration of all students competing on behalf of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. This is no small feat with a school board that size.
Passionate, hardworking and organized ― before the 2011 OTSC was complete, he had already begun preparations for next year’s provincial and national Robotics contest ― you can’t ask for anything more from a volunteer!Click here for a full list of past recipients, and visit our website for more information on our awards and scholarships!
