Whiz Kid: Jonathan Sales

Along with his graduation from Nonnewaug High School this Saturday, Jonathan Sales has plenty to celebrate. With his earned diploma in hand, Sales can also revel in the fact that he is four years into his remission from cancer.

Sales, 17, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was in eighth grade, and received a bone marrow transplant in the spring of 2007 at the Dana Farber Institute in Boston. He spent most of his eighth and ninth grade school years fighting the disease.

And one thing that Sales learned from his experience, other than his own personal strength, was the importance of a strong community.

“When I was going through it, I can’t even explain how much people helped me and my family out,” says Sales. Whether it was folks involved in dinner trains to the Sales family or a group of kids helping to fundraise with the sale of wrist bands for his family, Sales says the people in Woodbury and Bethlehem came out in full force to support him in his time of need.

In a gesture of thanks, Sales took his wish granted from the childhood Make A Wish Foundation and decided to throw a big party. “I had a party for 200 guests, my whole freshman class,” he says. “I wanted to thank them for helping me out. Everyone was invited.”

Sales added that it was his family, in particular his mother Loree D’Amato and his sister, Nicole, who gave him the strength and support he needed to get through his ordeal with cancer.

Even though the leukemia kept Sales’ life busy for a while, as soon as he felt better, he resumed the things he loves. Scouting, soccer, and Magic: The Gathering, a strategic card game that keeps him on his toes, occupied his time post chemo.

This year he culminated his scouting career in Troop 54 with his Eagle project -- the refurbishment of the Pop Warner Football shed at Gallop Field in Bethlehem. He took down to the old dilapidated shed and, through fundraising efforts like bake sales and some personal donations from friends, family and community, Sales was able to raise $2,000 for a new structure.

“It really was a community effort,” he says.

In addition to scouting, an organization he joined in first grade, Sales is an avid lover of soccer, playing for both the Woodbury-Bethlehem Youth Soccer and Nonnewaug High School Chiefs soccer. Though this year, Sales said, the effects of the chemotherapy treatments had some adverse effects on his lungs and running on the field was difficult, he was still able to contribute to his teams by helping to coach the NHS junior varsity soccer team and help manage the varsity team. Sales was able to use his leadership qualities gained through scouting to lend a hand in this manner. “I do aspire to one day coach a soccer team,” he says. “I think that would be a lot of fun.”

Sales will also take his leadership role further when he wears a brand new hat as a camp counselor for the Woodbury Park and Recreation Summer Camp. “I went there for a few years in fourth, fifth and sixth grade and I remember it was always so fun. I know it will help me in the future,” he says.

And what the near future holds for Sales is college. He will attend Western Connecticut State University in the fall as a dual honors major of Biology and Secondary Education. Sales says he hopes to take his love of science and apply it one day to a teaching career in high school biology.

“I have always loved science and going through what I went through with the leukemia has taught me a lot about the genetics of everything,” he says. “That made me want to go into biology.” He can also attribute his love of all things science to his teacher Tobias Denman, whom he says admires greatly.

“He’s a great kid,” says Denman, who had Sales in the classroom as well as on the soccer field. When Sales approached his coach with the idea to serve as a player/manager, Denman says he was thrilled. “He did a great job serving as a mentor for those kids this year,” Denman says. “Jonathan has such a positive attitude.”

Denman adds that he is sure Sales’ choice to head in the direction of science teacher is a good one. “He certainly is the type of guy that will be an asset to the job.” Biology teachers as a profession, Denman says, “needs enthusiastic young people entering it. He is a really hard worker.”

Sales says it’s his father, Stephen, who has made the most difference in his life through his participation alongside his son in scouting.

“He started scouts with me, became Scout Master, and has been to almost every outing,” Sales says. “He is, by far, my biggest mentor.”