Communities play an important role in people’s lives. They create a sense of belonging and interpersonal connections with others.

Jonathan Blackwell felt this heightened sense of community from the day he moved to his favorite school, Henderson Elementary School.

“Henderson Elementary was a big improvement from the other school I had attended in a different district. At Henderson, the staff understood where I was and encouraged me to capitalize on my strengths. I remember the principal at the time would even come and take time out of his day to do assignments with the class. It was the kind of place where you could be friends with your school principal.”

This sense of belonging stayed with Blackwell long after continuing on from Henderson Elementary. As he grew older, he started to find ways in which he could give back to his community through his expertise and on his personal time.

After high school, he worked in the district attorney’s office for 12 years in information technology and network administration. He then decided to switch over to the medical industry when an opportunity arose at Fuji Medical systems. At Fuji, Blackwell worked on cloud service computing for seven years. In 2019, he was offered a position at Monarch Medical Technologies as a technical services software engineer.

Monarch Medical technologies is the leading provider of precision insulin dosing technology. Many hospitals use Monarch’s product called EndoTool Glucose Management System which helps medical providers better determine how best to regulate a patient’s blood glucose levels to keep the patient within the appropriate target range for that patient. Keeping a patient within target range means the patient is healthier and better able to heal.

Blackwell has an important role in making Monarch’s system work properly as he supports its installation and development. This helps patients maintain proper blood sugar levels and can reduce the length of their hospital stay.

Blackwell also coaches flag football for boys ages 7 to 12 years old. He loves coaching and creating a tight-knit community within his team.

“At this age, you just need people to like you and I am the person to let them know that they are liked,” Blackwell said. “I teach the kids not only about how to play the game, but also about discipline and what it means to be a part of a team. Overall, we all have a great time.”

Building this sense of community and a safe space for these boys and everyone else he interacts with is very important to Blackwell.

“Without a sense of community, people can become isolated. That’s why it’s so important to reach out to people to help avoid that sense of isolation.”

Blackwell is thankful to 27J Schools, specifically Henderson Elementary School and the staff for instilling his pronounced sense of community and making him realize the importance of creating interpersonal connections with others.

“I believe in 27J Schools because there are great leaders that choose to work for kids who live in 27J and who actually care about them,” he said.