NAUJAAT
Naujaat's Suzanne Putulik had an awesome time in the big city after being named the North West Company and Northern store's Youth Leadership Champion for Nunavut this past month.

Suzanne Putulik of Naujaat is all smiles outside the MTS Centre before attending her first NHL game in Winnipeg this past month. - photo courtesy of Allison Putulik

Putulik's prize winnings included round-trip tickets for two to Winnipeg, hotel accommodations, and two tickets for an NHL game featuring the Winnipeg Jets versus the Florida Panthers on March 8.

Tusarvik School vice-principal Julia MacPherson nominated Putulik for the award, and said the Grade 12 student is a real role model for Nunavut young people.

She said Putulik is almost tireless in the amount of outstanding volunteer work she does in the school and community.

"Suzanne is one of the few female firefighters, she works for our prenatal cooking program, and she helps out in the school for major events, our breakfast program and other various school-related functions," said MacPherson.

"She is always willing to lend a helping hand and comes to school every day."

Putulik, 19, said she was surprised and very excited to find out she had been selected for the award.

She said she enjoys volunteering a lot, and she never expects anything in return, but it was a nice feeling to have her work recognized by the award.

"I was proud just to have my teacher (MacPherson) nominate me," said Putulik.

"There's some people who always need help, but others don't always see them, so I always volunteer and try to help people when I can.

"I always help the teachers when they need it, and I volunteer to help with the 13-and-older group who play soccer.

"I go to the gym with the kids from 5:30 p.m. until 7 or 7:30 p.m., so they can have fun in the evening."

Putulik said she had a blast in Winnipeg for the four days with her sister, Allison Putulik, 25.

She said going to the Jets game was a lot of fun and she couldn't believe the extra surprise in store for her when she arrived.

"They had a box for us, Box 26, on, like, the second floor and it was awesome.

"They never told me about that until after we got to the arena for the game.

"They also put me up on the big screen during the game, and I brought my sign of Go Winnipeg Jets, from all in Naujaat.

"I'm not really a hockey fan but I had a lot of fun at that game, and I also had a lot of fun shopping at Polo Park Mall too."

North West Company community support and communications specialist Cinthya Clark said the company is aware of people in the communities who lead and inspire youth.

She said they were hearing enough anecdotal stories from their store managers to decide it was time to do something to recognize some of the individuals, and to get the word out on what they are doing in the communities.

"Recognizing youth was one of the things we really wanted to do because we'd like to inspire others in the communities to follow in their footsteps," said Clark.

"We decided to hold a Facebook contest, so people in the communities could nominate youths for the prize.

"We wanted these youths to get that recognition, not only from us, but, also, from the people who they're affecting directly."

Clark said the company was looking for youth who get involved with volunteering, with sporting events -- whether leading the team or being part of it -- who show academic excellence and who take part in various community programs.

She said they looked primarily at how the nominated youths get involved in the community, and lead and inspire others to do the same.

"We were looking at how they encourage others to get more involved with their community, lead healthier lifestyles and things of that nature.

"We wanted to hear about youths who volunteer their time at a food bank, or who help coach a soccer team or a hockey team.

"Those were the parameters for youth leadership we looked at to find someone who is heavily involved in the community, shows strong leadership abilities and excels at academics."

Clark said what jumped out about Suzanne's nomination was the fact her vice-principal nominated her and the level of involvement she has with her school.

She said Suzanne sets a sterling example for others by the way she's always willing to lend a helping hand in her day-to-day life.

"Suzanne is being a role model by the way she lives her life because, if she sees somebody needs help, she'll just do it.

"It was really quite something to hear how much she does, from being a volunteer firefighter to always being on the graduation decoration committee, going to pick-up groceries for the breakfast program, babysitting for the clinic and working reception at the school.

"It really stuck out that she's doing so much in her community for being such a young kid.

"I can't say for certain this will happen again next season, but I hope to continue recognizing those in the community, like Suzanne, who are making a difference."