SANDPOINT — Community Assistance League started 40 years ago, and it was 38 years ago that the group handed out its first scholarship to a local high school senior.

This year, CAL awarded 39 scholarships, for a total of $39,000 to high school seniors across Bonner County. To celebrate the accomplishments of the community’s students, CAL members invite recipients to their June meeting each year, however, this time was a little different.

“This is a very special, a very different scholarship presentation, and I hope all of you are impressed as I am,” Sally Lowry, CAL scholarship chair, said during the meeting last week at the Columbia Bank Building in Sandpoint.”

What made it special, in part, was the group tracked down the first scholarship recipient from 38 years ago. It was Tina Sleyster, who not only graduated from Sandpoint High School with a CAL scholarship, but so did her son, who now provides his own scholarship to SHS students.

Sleyster could not attend the meeting in person because she was out of town and, through technical difficulties, a video she made for CAL wouldn’t play. She did attend the SHS scholarship night in May, where she explained the purpose behind the Sleyster Unlimited Potential scholarship. Her son, Jake Sleyster, created the SUP award a couple years ago to give back to a community that helped him follow his dreams. Now, he supports college-bound students from SHS, encouraging them to follow their dreams and find their unlimited potential.

While Tina Sleyster received the first scholarship, there have been many more over the years. CAL was implemented in 1979 by Sandpoint residents Sydne Van Horne, Marilyn Pagano, and Ginny Jensen. The initial CAL project was to sponsor the first ever girls’ state volleyball tournament held in Sandpoint and, soon after, began offering grants and scholarships in support of education.

The primary fundraiser of these efforts is through CAL’s upscale resale store, Bizarre Bazaar. The resale shop opened in March 2006, named after the group’s annual jumble sale. The shop thrives from the support of people who shop there and those who donate their gently used items. CAL then contributes the profits from the shop directly back into the community via the grants and scholarships.

Last week’s meeting continued with a few of the CAL members, who updated the group on their children who have received scholarships in recent years, including Julia Kern. Her son Tanner was born with Asperger’s syndrome, which Kern said makes him socially awkward, though most wouldn’t realize in speaking him. He has an IQ of 163, but it was not without challenges that he learned how to read and make progress in school, she said.

He started out part-time at North Idaho College, and is now a botany major and lives in the dorms at the school.

“This is what this kid does on his time off — he is going around our entire eight-acre property and cataloging every native plant that we have,” Kern said as tears of pride began to surface while she spoke. “... What you all gave to him was the start of a future, and I’m telling you, he is amazing.”

Finally, the group heard from three of this year’s scholarship recipients. While the three are from SHS, the 39 students who received scholarships were also from Priest River Lamanna, Lake Pend Oreille and Clark Fork high schools, as well as two home-school and three renewal scholarships.

Emma Dreier was one of the SHS representatives, and told the group about future endeavors overseas. Before heading to college in China, she will spend an academic year in Seoul, South Korea, through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program. Dreier described the NSLI-Y as a full-ride scholarship to intensively study a language that is not widely taught in U.S. schools, but is critical to U.S. security.

“I am so excited for this and I can’t wait,” Dreier said. “This is just an amazing opportunity.”

After her academic year in South Korea, she will then attend Duke University in Shanghai, China, to study political science. Because she is taking the year to go to South Korea, having CAL provide her with a scholarship was a gift that helped her better prepare for college in China the following year, she said.

“I have always been passionate about East Asian languages, and to be immersed in the culture for the next five or so years is just amazing,” Dreier said. “And the gift that you guys have given me is just another stepping stone in the path to my future — thank you guys so much.”

Dreier was followed by Ryan Baumgartner, who said he will be attending California State University, East Bay, along with his twin sister Alana Baumgartner, who also received a CAL scholarship.

“I didn’t think we were going to be ‘those’ twins,” he said, as the crowd roared with laughter. “But we are and, on top of that, our suites are next to each other — I don’t know how it happened, we logged in at different times, but that’s just the way it is, so we are going to be very tight.”

Baumgartner said he is going to major in business administration with a focus in forensic accounting. Because he got most of his general education requirements out of the way already, he will be able to focus on his major-specific courses in the first year. He hopes to ultimately work with the FBI.

Ellinor Allen was the final speaker of the day. Between her parents’ divorce and her brother being diagnosed with cancer at an early age, the cost of college was daunting, and nearly impossible had it not been for the help of groups like CAL.

“This scholarship has made it possible so that I can go to my dream college and continue doing what I love,” she said.

Allen said she will be going to Pacific University in Oregon, where she will double major in pre-med and vocal music.

She and Baumgarter, who were both members of the SHS choir, topped off the day with a heartwarming rendition of Rihanna’s “Stay,” culminating in a standing ovation by all in attendance.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.