Smith the Smart Choice for Team Captain
KU Scholar Athlete of the Month: Jackson Smith
School: Lexington Catholic High
Grade: 12
Sports: Basketball & Football
Academics: Jackson is a 4.0 student, No. 2 in his class and has taken eight A.P. classes.
Parents: Lisa & Brian
It’s no surprise that Jackson Smith was chosen captain of the Lexington Catholic High basketball team.
The 6-foot-3 senior center personifies team-first play with his hard-nosed game and is one of the school’s top students.
Jackson is a straight-A student who has never received a grade other than an A in any course. He ranks second in the senior class and has taken eight A.P. classes.
A member of the school’s Scholars for Math, Science & Technology program, Jackson has won an armful of academic awards, including awards in chemistry (twice), physical sciences, math, writing and an award for his service work.
About his service works: He twice has taken mission trips to Ghana in Africa, building and refurbishing classrooms and a medical lab in a small, impoverished village.
“The people there have practically nothing, and they welcome you with open arms,” he said. “It is an experience I will never forget and a feeling you can’t get anywhere else.”
Last summer, Jackson had another memorable experience, serving an internship with local orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vincent Prusick at Shriners Hospital. Jackson shadowed the doctor as he made his rounds and also witnessed more than a dozen surgeries.
Life in the O.R. was not only fascinating but emotionally compelling.
“In one surgery, they corrected a girl’s club feet,” Jackson said. “Afterward, she walked for the first time. Seeing her mother’s face as her daughter took those steps, I can’t even describe how that felt.”
Not surprisingly, Jackson plans a career in medicine. He has been an independent learner from his earliest days in school, his mother Lisa said.
“When he was in third grade he asked for help with his social studies homework,” she said. “When I reviewed one page, he said I had forgotten to ask him about a specific sentence on that page.
“After we finished the next page, he said I forgotten to ask him about the box in the upper left of the page about Sacagawea. I realized he didn’t need me to help him with his schoolwork.”
A linebacker on the football team, Jackson has been Academic All-State in football and basketball all four years at Lexington Catholic.
In basketball this year, he was selected to the All-District and All-Region tournament teams after averaging eight points a game and tying the school single-season record for charges taken with 45. He also ranked sixth in the state in field goal percentage at 68.1%
“He always hustles, is the first one down the court and the first one back on defense,” his father Brian said. “He’s tough, very coachable, and knows the fundamentals.”
Right. After all, knowledge is Jackson’s strong suit.
