ADAMS TWP — A group of Mars High School students is raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is near and dear to a specific classmate’s heart.

Brett Jackson, a junior who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2010, has led his team, “Brett’s Crew,” 83 percent of the way to raising $21,000 for JDRF’s One Walk.

The walk was held in September in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park, and Brett’s Crew had raised $17,346 at that point. But the crew is looking to bump that amount up by December. Brett has raised funds for the cause for the past three years.

In 2014, he was presented with a JDRF Golden Sneaker Award and Emerald Circle of Excellence Award after Brett’s Crew raised $38,000 for the 2013 JDRF Western Pennsylvania Chapter Walk to Cure Diabetes.

Brett created his crew at the high school last year, and the team organized a Turkey Bowl competition to raise funds.

In that event, all homerooms at the high school raised funds for JDRF, and the highest-earning rooms elected a bowler to compete in the “alley” set up in the gymnasium.

The bowlers received JDRF T-shirts, and the winner of the Turkey Bowl earned extra slices of pizza during lunch for the students in their homeroom.

This year’s project is still being finalized, but Brett said the crew is trying to organize a Battle Ball game in the gymnasium.

Brett said he got involved with JDRF because he was impressed with the organization’s mission.

“I wanted to be part of it, and I know I was speeding the process up of trying to find a cure,” he said.

As for his daily life living with type 1 Diabetes, Brett must try his best to eat every three hours, after which he gets a shot of insulin.

Brett said his initial issue with his diagnosis was overcoming his fear of needles, but his routine is now second nature.

“When I first had it, it was something to get used to,” he said.

While he takes glucose tablets and a sugary drink with him everywhere he goes in the event that his blood glucose level would bottom out, Brett said he appreciates the understanding and support of his family and friends.

“Most of my friends understand (diabetes) and know what to look for and what to do if something would ever go wrong,” Brett said.

Melanie Haynes, the school nurse who oversees the two diabetic students currently at the high school, applauds Brett’s efforts in raising funds for JDRF.

“I think it’s absolutely amazing,” Haynes said. “He’s a wonderful student and an amazing person.”

She said she normally oversees the school-day care for about five students per year. She said she works with the students and their doctor on completing emergency care plans to keep on file at the school, testing the students’ blood glucose levels, and administering insulin shots as necessary.

She said students who are experiencing symptoms from low or high blood glucose report to her office, and are given a sugary snack or sometimes medicine. Their glucose level is then tested every 20 minutes until it levels out at a good reading.

“They almost never go home,” Haynes said. “Typically we deal with it here at school.”

Brett’s mother, Michele Jackson, said her husband learned about diabetic symptoms as part of his training for the Allegheny Mountain Rescue group.

“He noticed our son drinking a lot of water and not getting his thirst quenched,” she said.

When the family went to the doctor and discovered his blood glucose count was over 300, when a normal reading is 80 or less, an alarm was sounded.

“We took him straight to Children’s Hospital, and we spent a couple nights there until they got his count down,” Michele Jackson said.

She said the family stopped going out to dinner for a few years after Brett was diagnosed to better control his eating.

“We were also afraid to leave him alone at first,” Michele Jackson said. “We were nervous and worried.”

She said her son gets a shot after each of his four daily meals, plus an overnight shot, to help break down the body’s blood sugars, she said.

She said the family is very proud of Brett’s efforts to beat diabetes.

“He wants a cure, and when you want something badly enough, you work hard to get it done,” Michele Jackson said.

Donations to Brett’s Crew can be made by logging onto www.walk.jdrf.org, then clicking “Donate,” and then entering Brett Jackson. All funds benefit research into finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.