It did not take long for Dylan Joachim to make his impact on the Battlefords.
He has been in the community for only a few months, but the former Spiritwood resident’s leadership abilities and volunteerism have been recognized by his teachers and peers in a short period of time, so much so that he has been named 2014 Junior Citizen of the Year.
“It feels pretty good, I wasn’t really expecting it,” he said in speaking to the Regional Optimist Dec. 16.
He found out about the honor at school. “They called me down to the office and one of the guys from the board was on the phone, and told me right there.”
He was surprised but not teary eyed, saying he’s “not really an emotional guy.”
His family is justifiably proud. “My mom was happy, my brother was really happy about it.”
It also means he’ll have to give a speech for the banquet to honor the Citizen and Junior Citizen of the Year early in the new year. He has been thinking about it but still isn’t quite sure yet what he’ll say.
As for why he was selected, Dylan has some thoughts. “I try and keep on a positive note as much as I can. I’m not really a negative person,” he said, and also “good with people”.
As is typical of recent recipients of the honour, Dylan has been able to successfully juggle school with a large number of volunteer activities.
At North Battleford Comprehensive High School he is involved with Comp in Action, where he participates in fundraising and volunteering in the community. That included the haunted house fundrasier at the Western Development Museum. CIA also collected money for the Food Bank.
He is also involved in the Yearbook Club, has supported the Me to We movement and attended We Day in Saskatoon.
At Spiritwood High School he was on the SRC where he was vice-president in Grade 11, and would have been president there had he stayed. After moving to North Battleford he became involved with the NBCHS SRC.
He has been active in sports, standing out in three in particular.
He is a gifted track and field athlete. He earned a mdeal at regionals, participated in the Saskatchewan Summer Games, and was selected to go to the Knights of Columbus National Track and Field championships in Prince Edward Island in 2012.
He competed in discus, shot put and javelin at that high level and Dylan is known for passing along knowledge to other students from his training and experiences.
“I definitely went more towards the throwing route,” he said. “That’s something I excelled at a little more.”
Another of the many sports he displays a passion for is snowboarding. Dylan has been involved in it since he was five years old.
He got started in it while living in Grand Cache, Alta., which is close to the mountains, only an hour away from Jasper. “So it was pretty easy to get into it.”
His involvement in that has led to teaching snowboarding lessons at Table Mountain.
During the past football season, he played as a middle linebacker with the NBCHS Vikings.
You might think that experience would give him some sort of an exulted celebrity status in high school, but Dylan insists it’s not like that at all.
“TV shows definitely push the concept more than it is in real life,” Dylan said. “It’s not like you walk in and everyone’s cheering and happy to see you. It does make you a little more popular because you’re part of that smaller group that everyone knows about.”
He quickly made an impact on the football field, and was praised by coach Jamie Sommerfeld for the qualities he brought to his team.
“Dylan is one of the hardest working athletes I have ever had the pleasure of coaching,” Sommerfeld stated in his letter of support. “His maturity, on and off the field, has elevated our team to greater heights this past season. Dylan not only has these amazing leadership qualities but also great interpersonal and communication skills.”
These sentiments were expressed by other nominators as well, who point to his maturity and leadership, and also his compassion in dealing with others.
Outside of school, Dylan had volunteered in Spiritwood Lodge, working with the elderly there, and he volunteered summers at the Mountain Métis summer camps for children and youth near Grande Cache.
All that is combined with a stellar academic record, with consistent honour roll appearances and grades in the mid-90s.
“I don’t think I’ve had an average in high school less than 93,” he said. Of his classes he finds mathematics to be his best subject.
For the future, Dylan is looking to pursue something that will put those math skills to good use. He says he is deciding whether he wants to pursue an engineering degree or a business degree, but expects to do something along those lines for a career, possibly a combination of both.
“It’s a little bit more towards business because it’s an easier route to go to get into stuff, just because there’s more opportunity for schooling,” he said.
Dylan’s future plans include a move to Calgary, Alta. to pursue his higher education at Mount Royal College. The plan is to study for two years at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology first before transferring.
How does Dylan find the time to juggle his school work with all his other volunteer activities?
“Throughout the year, school has come pretty easy to me, so I haven’t had to spend the majority of my time on schoolwork. I’ve been able to place it around different things I’ve wanted to do, whether it was sports or a little bit of time to work after school,” he said.
He’s been able to organize his time well enough “so that any time I needed to I could make time for school, and cut out a couple of those other things.”
It’s that ability to juggle and prioritize that has allowed Dylan to join the ranks of the other young individuals who’ve had a similar story to tell on the way to becoming Junior Citizen of the Year.
