For friends of Old Rochester Regional High School junior Cam Severino, watching him use needles to test his blood sugar several times a day, is not unusual.

What is unusual, they said, is the lack of common knowledge about what Severino will suffer from for the rest of his life - Type 1 diabetes.

Unlike the more common Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 is a lifelong disease in which the sufferer has high levels of sugar in their blood. If not treated with insulin, Type 1 can be fatal.

Mike Nailor, an ORR High School math teacher, said there is a disconnect in the community about the severity of Type 1 and yet, how students like Severino, who plays three varsity sports, don’t let it define their lives.

To get the word out, Nailor and the ORR students have created two public service announcements to air on local TV stations, and in the classrooms.

In the videos, Severino is joined by students who also have Type 1 including Nailor’s eight-year-old daughter Maggie, New Bedford teenager Amanda Biers and Bridgewater State University student Justin Cruz.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that Type 1 is unique because there’s no way of leaving it behind,” Nailor said. “It’s all about educating the community for people who haven’t come across Type 1.”

For Severino, who was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was in second grade, appearing in the videos was a chance to discuss how he manages the disease.

“It’s awful but I wanted people to know how much of a struggle it is in life but you can deal with it,” Severino said.

Also appearing the videos are Severino’s friends Tim Kelleher, Chris Marchisio and Anthony Canmarano.

“You never know if people have Type 1 diabetes and if they suddenly go down, after seeing this video, you could know a little to help save a life,” Kelleher said.

Nailor said the idea behind the public service announcements was simple. It’s all about students who have Type 1, helping out other students like them.

“Young kids might be scared, but they can watch this and see kids like Cam and Maggie say they went through that period of being scared themselves, and made it through,” Nailor said.

Old Rochester’s video journalism student Kara Silviais putting the finishing touches on the public service announcements, which Nailor said should be ready to air by early May.

Nailor is also working with New Bedford’s community baseball group, the Bay Sox Foundation, to organize a wiffle ball tournament to raise money for kids with diabetes.

The Slam Diabetes Tournament will be on July 21 in New Bedford.