Pillar and Passion
Pillar and Passion Awards
ATLE recognizes excellence in its pillars of learning, technology, and leadership through its annual Pillar and Passion Awards, awarded annually at the ATLE Convergence Conference in the Fall.
Scroll down this page to read more about the awards and this year's recipients!
ATLE Pillar Award
In 2011, the ATLE Board created the Pillar Award to recognize and celebrate outstanding contribution to technology in K-12 in Alberta. Recipients of the Pillar Award have been involved in learning, technology, and leadership for many years, and are considered friends, pioneers, making a difference - yes, essentially "pillars" involved in technology in Alberta.
Pillar Award recipients are those people we all look up to, care about, and recognize as those who have helped many others, improving the "technology in education" community in Alberta along the way.
Sometimes this person is one whose outstanding career is being recognized. Sometimes this person is one who has helped in a very specific way, that impacts a majority of students. We have recognized people from government ministries, and people from our local school jurisdictions.
The ATLE Board does not lightly nominate folks, and the Pillar Award is not presented every year.
This award is the highest honor and distinction that the Alberta Technology Leaders in Education organization recognizes. We will continue to recognize and celebrate ATLE Pillar Award recipients, both present and past.
2024 Pillar Award Recipient - Jesse Sadlowski
ATLE's 2024 Pillar Award recipient, Jesse Sadlwski, has been the Director of Technology at Lethbridge School District, where he has served for the last seven years. Jesse is an avid contributor to both the IT and the educational technology communities here in Alberta and beyond.
His division, with his guidance, has pioneered and paved the way for students to learn through esports, and now, as a provincial leader in esports, Jesse is committed to continuing to share his team's experiences with other divisions across the province, as well as provide opportunities for others to learn about esports, such as through the new ATLE Esports PLN.
In addition, Jesse has hosted several sessions, including with ATLE, in the key area of cybersecurity, expanding the knowledge of all who attended. A former ATLE Board member, Jesse is always willing to help ATLE and other divisions in moving forward with initiatives he has experience with, and he is a long-time contributor to various discussions on topics of interest within the ATLE community.
Jesse's passion for technology in education makes ATLE proud to recognize him as the 2024 ATLE Pillar Award recipient.
ATLE Passion Award
The ATLE Passion Award honors outstanding educators and leaders who demonstrate extraordinary commitment, leadership, courage and persistence in improving digital learning opportunities for students.
2024 Passion Award Recipient - Melody Nelson
Melody Nelson, recipient of the 2024 Alberta Technology Leaders in Education (ATLE) Passion Award, is a valued member of the Information Technology team at Pembina Hills School Division. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding leaders who within their school districts demonstrate exceptional commitment, leadership, and dedication to advancing digital learning in education.
Melody has been devoted to Pembina Hills for the past 18 years, working tirelessly in the role of managing their student information system. Her expertise and dedication have played a crucial role in ensuring accurate, efficient, and accessible student data for teachers, staff and families. Through her work, Melody has directly supported the learning journey of all students in Pembina Hills, not only enabling data-driven decisions to occur, but also creating smoother digital experiences for everyone in her division.
Melody's longstanding and unwavering commitment to excellence within Pembina Hills demonstrates her leadership in practice in a division-level role that, although behind the scenes of the hustle and bustle of the classroom itself, is 100% essential for many integral data communication processes to be able to function successfully. Congratulations, Melody, from the entire ATLE Team!
ATLE Pillar and Passion Awards Hall of Fame
ATLE is a great example of an organization that "stands on the shoulders of giants". The individuals we have celebrated as award recipients over the years are testament to the sturdy roots of excellence in IT, ET, and Leadership that have shaped the evolution of the ATLE we all connect with today.
We've been scanning our ATLE archives to gather our lists below. If you notice any revisions needed in the list below, please Contact Us with any missing information! Thank you!
| Pillar Award Recipients | |
| 2011 | Erwin Loewen |
| 2012 | John Percevault and Gary Spence |
| 2013 | Lyle Roberts and Edna Dach |
| 2015 | Todd Kennedy and James Aitchison |
| 2017 | Michael Barr and Jeff Murray |
| 2019 | Brian Wynder and David Lorenson |
| 2020 | Dan Durand |
| 2022 | Ken Robitaille |
| 2023 | Daylene Lauman |
| 2024 | Jesse Sadlowski |
| Passion Award Recipients | |
| 2020 | Michael Nielsen and Brian Archinuk |
| 2022 | Nicole Lakusta |
| 2023 | Memorese Walter |
| 2024 | Melody Nelson |
Last, but certainly noteworthy, at Convergence 2021, a one-time Service Award was presented to then Executive Director Doug Dietz, in recognition for his many years of dedication and service to ATLE. Doug, as Executive Director, was instrumental in leading ATLE from a fledgling organization to a place where he could hand it off to a Team who can move it forward into its next future-ready rendition!
Annual Grant Opportunity!
ProLearn Research and Innovation Grants
ProLearn Research and Innovation Grants, awarded in the Spring by the ProLearn Team, recognizes those applicants who invest in research and innovation within their educational communities.
Applications for ProLearn Research and Innovation Grants will be received from January 1 - February 15. Subscribe to our newsletter (bottom of this page) to be in the know as soon as the revised 2025 application form is posted. Read more about ProLearn grants on the ProLearn Research and Innovation Grants page.
Pillar and Passion Awards - Looking forward
As we look forward to next year, we encourage you to help us celebrate excellence in IT/ET/Leadership across Alberta by nominating an ATLE member colleague for the Pillar or the Passion Award. We will open nominations once again in September, 2025.
When considering who to nominate, consider the following:
Your nomination should include
- Nominee’s Name
- Job Role(s)
- Division or School
- a thorough description of how and why you believe this person should receive this distinction.
- NEW for 2025: A list of criteria will be shared in advance to help you sift through the qualities and contributions of the great people you work with to see who best meets the standards of these awards!
Nominations will be accepted by email to our ProLearn team at ProLearn@atle.ca by end of day on the first Friday in October, 2025. We look forward to celebrating exemplary leadership with you!
"We rise by lifting others." ~ Robert Ingersoll