Sleyster enters rarified air

SANDPOINT - The universe is just beginning to reveal itself to a Sandpoint High School senior with dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Jake Sleyster is the first SHS student to be selected for the regional United Dairymen of Idaho Distinguished Student Award.

He is the son of Dave and Tina Sleyster. His father is an electrician and his mother is a speech and language therapist.

SHS principal Dr. Becky Kiebert and athletic director Cheryl Klein nominated Sleyster for the honor.

Sleyster knew in early April that he was in the running for the selection, but doubted that he would receive it.

“I was really thinking I wouldn't get this,” he said.

On Wednesday, was greeted with the announcement and a KREM 2 television crew.

“I was just flabbergasted,” said Sleyster.

Kiebert was interviewed by the television as well and spoke of Sleyster's qualities that prompted the nomination.

“He is one of the best all around students I have ever worked with,” Kiebert said.

Not only is Sleyster academically minded, but he is also kind, compassionate, a community builder and a student leader, she said.

“He has a great heart and a great vision,” Kiebert said. “He is definitely somebody who's going to change the world for the better.”

Her comments “brought tears to my eyes,” Sleyster said.

The best moment came, however, when Sleyster called his father about the Dairymen's award.

“That was the coolest expression I got, to hear how proud he was of me,” Sleyster said. “It was just cool to hear my dad that excited.”

Sleyster, who has a 3.99 grade point average, will attend prestigious Embery-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., this fall.

The college offers majors in subjects such as applied meteorology, global security and intelligence studies, aerospace engineering and space physics. It is more expensive than most Ivy League schools at $45,000 a year.

About 25 percent of high school students who apply to the college are accepted, Sleyster said.

The Dairyman's award will be a big help for his parents given the state of the economy, he said.

Sleyster also tried out for the college's soccer team - a tryout that he did not realize was even taking place.

He spoke with the school's soccer coach who asked him to participate in a 90-minute game with four other students interested in walking on the team.

They played an evening game on a desert plateau while the moon rose, he said. Afterwards the coach called Sleyster into his office and asked him to play on the team.

However, Sleyster asked the coach if he could wait a semester so he has time to focus on his engineering classes and try out the school's hang gliding and sky diving opportunities.

The coach agreed and also offered him a paid position as his assistant. It will allow him to get to know the team and help him prepare to play in the spring.

SHS will receive $5,000 in Sleyster's name for the Dairymen's award and the school can do with it whatever it wishes, said Cheri Storey, communications director for United Dairymen of Idaho.

Some schools have purchased computer equipment and microscopes, while others have given the money to the studentwho was selected for the honor, she said.

“It's entirely up to the school,” she said. The money can assist that one student or benefit a lot of students “because not everyone can be an overachiever,” she said.

The selection is based on academics, character and extracurricular activities.

Students selected for this award are amazing, she said. A previous recipient is a young man from Genesee who now attends Howard University and has been on its dean's list.

Sleyster said he has always been lucky, but he is humbled by the fact that he can accomplish his goals by hard work and being diligent. “It's just great to see things pay off,” he said.

He said his last week of school has been exciting because of the award, his receipt of several local scholarships (Rotary, CAL, Kiwanis and Beta Sigma Phi), along with prom.

“It's just been one great week,” he sad.