Whiz Kid: Katie Jarrell, IB Superstar and Junior Diabetes Research Ambassador

• Katie Jarrell
• Sara Smith Elementary, Second Grade
• Accomplishment: Successful IB student, ambassador for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation and gymnast

According to the official IB website, “The International Baccalaureate (IB) aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.”

This may seem difficult for most 7-year-olds to understand, but there is a special second-grader at Sarah Smith Elementary, an IB school, who epitomizes what the IB is all about.

Katie Jarrell is eager to share everything she knows with anyone who asks.  She articulates her thoughts with the skill of someone twice her age; no short, vague mumbling, or awkward second-grade rambling for her. When answering a question, Katie uses complete sentences and she always provides thought-provoking explanations to back-up her responses. And her enthusiasm for learning is infectious; anyone listening as Katie describes an idea or tells a story suddenly becomes eager to learn more.  She’s that good.

For instance, last week while shooting an episode of the APS Comcast channel 22 program Perspectives, Katie unwittingly demonstrated her IB magic.  The show featured Smith students engaged in hands-on study about Australia as part of the school’s annual International Traveler’s (IT) Week celebration. Katie poured out her knowledge about Australia for the show’s viewers, covering everything Aussie, from aborigines and art, to crocodiles and kangaroos. And as Katie talked about marine life in the Great Barrier Reef, she skillfully worked in a message about pollution and personal responsibility — and she did it all without a script!

“People have been putting garbage in the water,” she said.  “So when you’re outside you always need to pick up your trash, because you never know how all of this trash could just go in the water… we always want to make sure we’re picking up things — even if it isn’t ours — and we’re helping the earth and Mother Nature.”

She’s responsible too. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 2, Katie checks her blood sugar, gives herself insulin, changes her pump sites, and is learning to count carbs and make informed decisions about what she eats. 

As a gymnast, Katie realizes that eating right gives her the strength she needs to do the flips she loves. And as an ambassador for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation, Katie talks to newly diagnosed children to inspire them and give them the confidence they need.  

This summer, Katie will speak to business leaders to create more awareness for Type 1 diabetes.

Her teacher, Mr. Kraus, says, “Katie is a responsible, independent, caring and enthusiastic student.  She is a leader in class through the words she chooses to use and the actions she chooses to take.”

IB learners strive to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.  Without question, Katie Jarrell embodies it all.

Written by Tiffany King, Communications, APS

Submitted by Kimberley Simms, PR, Communications, Sarah Smith Elementary

Send us Whiz Kid nominations. Include name, age, accomplishment and summary of what makes this youngster successful. Send an email to kiri.walton@patch.com.