HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — Ty'Jairria Johnson is the pride of Christian County High School.
A natural leader, she was Student Council President as a junior. As a senior, she's the first student ever to serve on the county's Board of Education, providing the student perspective on education issues. “I've learned so much being on the Board, about policies and how to present yourself. How to stand out and be a leader for you and others,” she said.
She’s also President of the Black Student Union and on the Superintendent’s Advisory Council and the Principal’s Advisory Council.
If you get the sense that she’s a go-getter, Carrie Caples says you’re right. Caples is now the Principal of Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, but years ago she had Johnson in her classroom. “Even as a 4th-grader, she stood out,” Caples said. “Her determination, her mindset to be more, to want more. To understand that education was truly her way of maneuvering through life.”
That commitment to education centers on the health care pathway. Johnson says her interest began when she watched Grey’s Anatomy on television, then heightened when she faced her own health scare.
“I had a tapeworm when I was in 5th, 6th grade,” she explained. “I was like 80 pounds for three years, I couldn’t gain weight. Ended up going to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, and I was always getting bloodwork drawn and a Black lady drew my blood. She was so nice. She made an impact.”
That led Johnson to focus on phlebotomy — the science of taking blood. She’s taken three years of biomedical classes to become a certified phlebotomist and now draws blood at a local hospital.
She also volunteers as a patient assistant at a local Alzheimer’s Disease facility, saying the experience has taught her valuable lessons in care and compassion.
She’s spending part of her senior year in co-op, taking college classes at Hopkinsville Community College. Next year she’ll be a full-time student at Tuskegee University in Alabama, enrolling in the pre-med curriculum with the goal of eventually being a doctor.
When that happens, she’ll be a role model to both women and African-Americans. Johnson embraces the idea, saying, “I’m blessed and I can bless people with my spirit and being around them.”
Caples sums up Johnson this way: “I don’t think sometimes she truly understands the impact she is making. So watch out world, here comes Ty’Jairria Johnson, ready to blow it up, all in a great way. Because great things do come out of Hopkinsville, Kentucky.”
We’re pleased to recognize that greatness with a partial college scholarship and recognition as a Spectrum News 1 High School Scholar.