Jamarcus Tyson has a thing about superheroes.
Well, certain ones, at least.
“I love Batman, that’s my DC hero,” Tyson said. “And then my Marvel hero is either Black Panther or Captain America. That super serum, hey.”
If there’s a common trait among Tyson’s favorites, it’s that they’re all vigilante-types. Those who are out to push forward a common good and help others.
Which is somewhat who Tyson is in his Junction City community.
No, he’s not out fighting bad guys or taking the law into his own hands. Instead, the Blue Jay junior is doing his part to make his school and community a better place through being a leader.
And while he may not have super-human powers, those who work closely with him would argue that his power is that he’s just a super human.
“I’ve known Jamarcus since he was in elementary school,” Junction City principal G.G. Booth said. “I’ve gotten to watch him grow up and he was a young rambunctious kid who’s turned into an amazing young man. He was always the kind and caring person and one of those kids going about doing things right. And he would take the time to stop and listen. He worked with all sorts of different kids and you could just tell that kid was going to do something and be amazing and he’s like that.”
Tyson is this week’s CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week.
A life-long resident of Junction City, Tyson has great pride in being from a town that can be somewhat transient in nature with a strong military presence from neighboring Fort Riley. That’s instilled by his parents, Alex and Melissa Tyson, who both serve their community in multiple aspects.
An Army veteran for 20 years, Alex has served a Geary County Commissioner since 2021. He’s also a Fatherhood Coordinator for Delivering Change, a community program designed to promote healthy families and improving community health and well-being.
Melissa Tyson has served as the Director of Marketing at Valley View Senior Life since 2017.
Their lives of giving back to their communities made a big impact on Jamarcus as he was growing up and now he serves as a volunteer for both of his parents’ endeavors.
“The joy is helping people that don’t have the opportunity that I have,” said Tyson, who as a younger child would often go with his mom to Valley View and interact with the seniors living there. “I feel like I’ve got a pretty good life, a perfect family, and they’ve always taught me to give back. I’ve always gone over there (to Valley View) and just sat down and talked to people there. I love meeting new people. In a military town, you always have people coming and going and I just like getting to know people.
“I kind of fit in everywhere, whether it’s in sports or in the classroom or school. Even if my brother has his friends over, littler kids, being able to be social interactive with anybody.”
It shouldn’t be a surprise then that Tyson was nominated by his school to join the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s Student Advisory Team. He was one of four members of this year’s team selected to attend July’s NFHS National Student Leadership Summit in Indianapolis, joined by Ottawa’s Jamie Winslow, Dodge City’s Tatum Steiner and Halstead’s Sydney Holzrichter.
The purpose of the summit was to teach leaders how to become better leaders and a total of 250 students from across the United States, Canada and Honduras were in attendance. In addition to leadership activities, the group participated in a day of activities with the Special Olympics.
Which falls in line with one of Tyson’s activities he’s involved in at Junction City, Blue Jay Buddies, where he interacts and spends time with children who have autism or Down Syndrome.
“It has been great to see Jamarcus jump right into his role of representing the state of Kansas,” KSHSAA Assistant Executive Director Jeremy Holaday said. “He was very engaged in Indianapolis with the other students and just in our first meeting here in Topeka, you can tell he desires to make a difference.”
Junction City's Jamarcus Tyson (right) relishes being a leader, both in his school and in his community.
The trip, Tyson said, was impactful in many ways and he plans to apply for a position on the National Student Advisory Team.
“It had a big impact on me seeing a wide variety of students and their different backgrounds,” he said. “It’s way different in the Midwest than it is in New England or on the west coast. They have way more populated schools than we do in Kansas. You hear their problems and they’re way different than what we have here.”
He’s had similar experiences within the KSHSAA Student Advisory Team meetings.
“When I went to the first meeting, the 1As were talking about how everybody is so involved and it’s not like that at 6A,” he said. “Some kids just want to go to school and get it over with, you also have others that want to be in clubs, athletics or active in the community. The 1-2As, you’re almost forced into it to have those things because they just don’t have as many students. At the 6A level, we have to find more ways to get students involved. It’s really eye-opening to see the different issues and even different sports. Like, I did not know sand-golfing was a thing. Not at all.”
Tyson has been an athlete all his life and plays both football and baseball for Junction City. He’s a catcher for the baseball team while for the football team he plays a wide variety of positions – linebacker on defense and receiver, tight end, running back and even some Wildcat quarterback.
That diversity on the field carries over off of it. In addition to being on the KSHSAA Student Advisory Team, Tyson is a member of Junction City’s National Honor Society and Blue Jay Buddies. Tyson has been a part of S2S – Student to Student – which helps orient new students to the high school, Student Council, Blue Jay Nation (the school’s spirit club) and KAY.
In nearly all, he’s stepped up in some form of leadership role, sometimes even when he didn’t know what he was getting into.
“I went to the first KAY club meeting with my girlfriend, just followed her to the meeting and really didn’t know what it was about,” he said. “Nobody raised their hand to be the secretary, so I was like, ‘You know what? I’ll raise my hand.’
“I never saw myself being a member of anything or a president. I didn’t think I would want to be a leader. But once I got into it, being a leader is something I stepped up and wanted to do.”
So much so that he’s now running for KAY club president.
Within the club, he’s done multiple community service projects, including Souls For Souls where students could donate shoes to be delivered to those in need in the Junction City community. The club also held a car wash to raise money and take in clothing and food donations for the homeless shelter.
“Jamarcus is involved and definitely carries his weight,” said Teresa Palmer, Junction City’s KAY sponsor. “He’s just one of those really kind-hearted students. If I say, ‘Hey Jamarcus, we need help with this or that,’ I know he’ll be there. He’s just so willing to help others and help out when and wherever he’s needed. He’s respectful, kind and very willing.
“He really didn’t know what KAY was all about and what all it entailed. He’s a good example and a good role model for the students. Students respond well to his leadership.”
Jamarcus Tyson moves to his own beat, but is determined to lead others to follow his ways in taking advantage of every opportunity they can at Junction City High School.
Tyson values being well-rounded with his academic endeavors prioritized just as much, if not more, than his athletic ones. He’d love to earn a scholarship in either football or baseball, but also is taking the necessary steps to ensure his future education if those opportunities don’t present themselves.
And taking advantage of opportunities is something that resonates in the way Tyson goes about his leadership roles at Junction City.
“The opportunities that our school gives us, a lot of people don’t see the advantages of it,” he said. “I want to take full advantage of my opportunities and I want other people to do that as well. I feel like they should have the same opportunity that I have and I should be someone at school to mentor them to have those same opportunities.
“I feel like everybody can do it. The way that I lead, I just want to make this place better than when I got here. When I leave, I want to pass on the torch and give other people the light to have the same opportunity that I did and be an example for the school. To be, ‘Hey, this guy did it. Everybody can do it, too.’ Just take advantage of that. That’s what I want to leave in my community.
“When the group is quiet, I’m a rah-rah guy and this is what we should do. But when everything is rolling and we’re all doing good, that torch is going and it’s flaming through everybody else. It’s one of those things where I don’t have to be the guy all the time where they don’t feel like they get the opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions, but I want to be there when there is no light to be the one to give people the light. I want to let them learn how to shine.”
Booth has known Tyson since he was in elementary school. She then served as a middle school assistant principal while Tyson was in attendance there and now interacts with him in her third year as the high school principal.
She’s seen him at every stage of his development and has relished watching him grow from that “rambunctious young kid” into a true school leader as a teenager.
“When you get to see a kid start in kindergarten and work their way through the school district and how their leadership role develops, it’s really heart-felt,” Booth said. “I’ve gotten to see his leadership roles grow at every stage that he’s been in in this district. To see how he’s grown into that role and how much he gives back, it’s very humbling to see. I just love seeing kids excel like that.
“Really his legacy will be that impactful leadership role. I see him being someone who is just going to look at showing people to see everything in the positive light. He’s always the one who’s been, ‘You can lead. You can do it all.’ I think younger kids look up to him and see that and that’s impactful when you have such a big school and very diverse school. He’s going to have an impact with everybody and whether you’re here for a year or two or forever, they’ll remember him and that was the kid that made them feel good about being here at Junction City.”