Rebecca Klaasen’s eyes kept getting wider and wider.
It is not every day the principal of Centre Wellington District High School demands her presence at the office – or sends a taxi to her home to pick her up.
Klaasen entered the meeting room in the main office at the high school to flashes from cameras and a round of applause.
She had just been named Centre Wellington’s youth Citizen-of-the-Year.
In quick order the 17-year-old grade 12 student received congratulations from Acting Mayor Walt Visser, Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce president Michael Weinstein, and a number of gifts, plus an invitation to attend the Awards of Excellence for Centre Wellington on April 26.
Dan Allen presented her with a cheque for $500 for Klaasen to present to any Centre Wellington charity of her choice.
That is the prize awarded to Citizens-of-the-year by the Centre Wellington Community Foundation.
“Oh my gosh,” Klaasen said of her quick trip called back to school from a study period. “I thought something bad had happened.”
She was nominated for the award by guidance teacher Paul Dekking.
He cited a lengthy list of accomplishments that include three years on student council and currently being co-Prime Minister, president of the Interact Rotary Club for youth, which takes on volunteer fundraising projects, a spirit leader at the Ontario Student Leadership Conference, a member of the Amnesty Club at school, and a student link leader, who assists new students at school.
Dekking noted Klaasen has been a member of the swim club for two years and the yoga club. She helped at the school’s “buy out” days where students could pay to attend school games to cheer on their teams.
Dekking said Klaasen is always an honour student and has won some academic awards, and has won the Lions Club effective speaking award for three years running.
Dekking said Klaasen has “an unbelievable work ethic in the school and in the community.” He added, “She is always thinking of others as well as herself.”
Klaasen said in an interview after all the hoopla, “I’m still processing all this. It’s a little bit of a shock.”
She will be heading to India this summer with Free the Children, and when she returns home, she plans to attend the University of Ottawa and student international development.
She said her interest was piqued in that field when she went on a school trip to Honduras.
“It kind of inspired me to help others,” she said. “It’s what I love doing.”
She enjoys the travel. She said she was born in Barrie but her family moved around a great deal. She moved to Fergus six years ago.
Youngsters might want to follow Klaasen’s example. Many younger children will know her because she worked at the Centre Wellington Sportsplex in Fergus during the past few summers at the summer camp run there.
Dekking said as a guidance counsellor he gets to know students perhaps better than most teachers because he works with them one on one. He said when he received the forms for the youth Citizen-of-the-Year this year from principal Maggie Roe, “I thought of Rebecca because of all the work she has done in school.”
He added, “She was just a natural to put up – a wonderful student for Citizen-of-the-Year.”
