Olympian Jennifer Heil to take the podium at ECS School

On Thursday, May 21st at 6 p.m. students at Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School in Westmount will welcome Olympic Champion Jennifer Heil to their annual athletic banquet.

One of Canada's premier athletes and the 2006 Olympic Champion in freestyle mogul skiing, Jennifer Heil is a woman whose hard work and vibrant spirit characterizes her approach to life.

Over the 2003-2006 competition seasons, Heil secured four consecutive World Cup titles, delivering an unprecedented 32 podium performances including 18 gold and 12 silver medals. She then went on to give repeat performances at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. (Not surprisingly, CanWest Media named her 2007 Canadian Female Athlete of the Year.) She has had a very successful 2009 season including a gold medal at Cypress Mountain, site of the moguls competition for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

ECS students in Grades 7 through 11 will welcome Ms. Heil to the School as she joins them in celebrating their accomplishments in a variety of sports over the course of this school year. According to Athletics Head Sarah Neef, “the girls are excited about welcoming an Olympic athlete to the school, and learning from her experiences on a variety of fronts.”

In addition to her skiing, Jennifer Heil works with charitable organizations such as Plan (an international development charity helping communities in 45 countries to alleviate child poverty) and Kids Kottage (aiding victims of child abuse). In 2007, she joined three other Olympic athletes who visited Rwanda, demonstrating the importance of sports and play in a child’s development. Heil is also an athlete ambassador for the David Suzuki Foundation’s program Play It Cool. In 2008, she travelled to Burkina Faso to raise awareness for girls’ rights.