Sarah Johnson: Valedictorian and Whiz Kid

To all the Island, Sarah Johnson will now be known as co-valedictorian of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Class of 2011. But that's not all that makes her special. Johnson's accomplishments are legion, and caught our attention back in March, when we named her a Martha's Vineyard Patch Whiz Kid of the Week. 

Today, as she takes to the Tabernacle stage to accept her co-valedictorian honors, we're revisiting her debut on Patch.

Sarah Johnson

Age: 18

School:

Accomplishment: Sarah Johnson's accomplishments are many, so we're just going to list some of them here. Last year she received a full scholarship from the Department of State to spend 10 months in New Delhi, where she went to high school, taught special education classes, tutored and taught beading to women in rural India. She's been a volunteer at Camp Jabberwocky for the past three summers. She is a team captain for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life at the high school. She is co-president of the MVRHS group Students for Change. She was an officer for the MVRHS Model United Nations club, and recently won a Merit Award at the National Model UN conference in New York City. 

Key to Awesomeness: After talking to Johnson about her passion for helping people, it's easy to see that she is most happy when doing things for others. Her favorite part of working at Camp Jabberwocky is that she gets to make a one-on-one, all-summer connection. "I love how involved I am when I'm there," Johnson said. "It has really taught me a lot of responsibility." Her plans for the future are not set in stone, but they include ideas like studying international relations in college and possibly working for an international NGO. [Johnson has since committed to attending Stanford University.] "I know it sounds cliché," said Johnson, "but I really want to be able to change things." We think she's got quite a lot to be proud of, and know she'll continue to make huge differences in lives all over the world.