HOISINGTON — Call Hoisington eighth-grader Campbell Husted a celebrity. If she wasn’t before, after last Thursday, she certainly is now.
In her first-ever public speaking engagement, she captivated the crowd as well as warmed the heart of the presenter invited to speak at Hoisington Middle School Thursday morning, about the life-altering disease that knows no season, no age, and has no cure.
Campbell knows it well. In 2021, it happened to her. On Thursday, she embraced the chance to talk about it; what it is, what it does, how it changed her life and her family’s. In 2021, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
The event
Emporia businessman Kent Schnakenberg knows about Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Since his niece Michelle was diagnosed in 2015, Schnakenberg has been traveling across the country to participate in bicycling events and hosting school programs to spread awareness about the disease that affects 200 more young adults and children every day in the U.S.
He’s traveled to schools in all 50 states, spreading his message and leaving a stock of neon-yellow “Team Schnak” T-shirts in his wake.
More importantly, he speaks constantly about the friendships he’s made and the kids he’s encountered through 55 school “Awareness Assemblies.”
Apparently, Thursday’s forum with the youthful Cardinals made an impression.
“When my host, (second-grade teacher Kiley Klug) introduced me, she asked the kids to ‘show Mr. Schnakenberg your true Cardinal character.’ Wow, they sure did,” he said after the assembly.
Schnakenberg was especially taken by Campbell’s poise as she took the microphone. “That girl is going to be going places,” he noted. “I’ve always been a little nervous about speaking in front of big crowds. But she showed that she owned it,” he said.
Campbell’s contribution
Campbell is one of four students currently attending USD 431 schools that have been diagnosed with T1D. As an eighth-grader, she is the oldest; Colton Staudinger is a fifth-grader; Blake Klug is a third-grader and Rowen Johnson is in kindergarten.
During the assembly, Campbell enlisted the boys’ help with her presentation, as she showed her classmates what she and they had to keep with them constantly as they live with the disease.
With Kiley Klug’s help, Campbell prepared a Powerpoint presentation with statistics about the disease. She explained that T1D is a chronic condition in which the body’s pancreas produces little to no insulin, which is necessary for the breakdown of sugar. “When you eat, the pancreas does its thing and you don’t have to think about it,” she said. Gesturing to the boys, she said “when we eat, we have to think about what we eat and the consequences.”
When she was diagnosed, “I was a sixth-grader, I went to the hospital. The doctor came in and said I had Type 1 diabetes. I didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said. “We went to Children’s Mercy in Wichita; I started crying on the way there. I weighed in at 79 pounds.
“It’s difficult to manage,” she said. “All you wonderful kids know that you’re just like everybody else. I want to tell you that we’re just like everybody else, we just have different things that we have to think about.
“Did I get Type 1 diabetes from eating too much sugar? No, I did not. It just happens to you.
“I’m not different; I am a best friend, I’m a sister, a daughter. I’m much more than someone with Type 1 diabetes.”
She showed off her insulin pump, which she wears at all times. “It hurts, because there’s a needle," she said. Reaching into a plastic bag, she brought out and explained the array of test strips, her MDI (multiple daily injection) supply; her Dexcom Brand CGM (continuous glucose monitor) and told them about blood glucose (BG) and A1-C, which is the average over a three-month time.
She also has a supply of needles, syringes and units of insulin that she can inject when necessary, sometimes nine times a day. There’s a supply of alcohol wipes and cleaners that clean the adhesive from her skin.
After her presentation, the room erupted. There was applause, but there were fist pumps and waves, and a chorus of foot stomps from the yellow-clad gallery.
Campbell had, as they say, “nailed it.”
Coin drive
In advance of the assembly, HMS and Lincoln Elementary held a spare change coin drive to donate to the Team Schnak cause. Megan Hustead, Campbell’s mom, announced that HMS had raised $126, while Lincoln students brought in $327, adding in an additional check to round up the amount to $500. The money would be used to help send students to a special summer camp dedicated to T1D support.
