Austin Hunt Named TST BOCES CTE Student of the Year By Linda Competillo
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Austin Hunt proudly received his diploma from Groton Jr./Sr. High School (GHS) on June 23 as one of 50 graduates in the Class of 2023, but earlier in the month, he had also received his completer certificate from the TST BOCES Career & Tech Education Center’s Heavy Equipment program.
The son of Bob and Nicole (Lockwood) Hunt, Austin has always lived in Groton, along with his older sister, Cheyanne, a GHS 2021 alumna, and many members of their extended family on both sides.
It was the influence of Austin’s dad and his uncles, Mike and David Hunt, that sparked Austin’s passion for heavy equipment and his desire to someday own his own excavation company.
“I rode on dozers, excavators, graders, tractors and skid steers with Uncle David and my dad growing up,” Austin said. “It made me really happy to be on a piece of equipment and learning from my role models.”
Austin was inspired by his dad, who has always worked in the buildings and grounds area and currently works for Groton Central School, as well as Mike, who owns Hunt’s Construction, and David, who had Austin help him often in his work with concrete and pavement and other work.
“I have loved operating equipment ever since I was little,” Austin said. “It’s like a bright light in me. I want to carry on the family tradition. My dad always wanted to own his own business and never got the chance. Having my own business someday is my opportunity to help fulfill his dreams.”
When Austin entered high school, it was his dad and Austin’s good friend, Brennan Brockway, as well as Brennan’s father, Jeff, who suggested that the BOCES program would be a good fit for Austin. Brennan had attended and graduated in 2022.
“Brennan guided me on the right path to learn and succeed in the program,” Austin said. “He knew what the teachers expected and helped me to know what I needed to do.”
Coincidentally, Jeff became one of Austin’s teachers in the program during his senior year. However, it was longtime teacher, Dale Kinney, who nominated Austin for Student of the Year (SOTY).
“Mr. Kinney pulled me aside one day and said he wanted to nominate me, but that I had competition in the class,” Austin said. “He has developed his own test within the program to determine who he’ll choose. He asks people to do different tasks outside their comfort zone, and a ‘can-do’ attitude is key.”
Austin believes that he proved himself best during the SkillsUSA competition, explaining that there are teams that compete in different focus areas. There were three people who wanted to participate in the operations area that Austin was interested in, but only one who wanted to do diesel tech, so Austin stepped away from his desire and stepped into doing diesel tech with the other student. Nonetheless, Austin said it “was an amazing experience.”
It was the evening of June 15 in the Tompkins Cortland Community College gymnasium when the TST CTE completer ceremony took place. Austin was nervous that night – not because he knew he would be walking across the stage to receive his certificate, but because it was also a night of awards, and he was one of four students in various programs who had been nominated to become the Rotary Club of Ithaca CTE Student of the Year.
The Rotary Club of Ithaca, the sponsoring organization of the award, presents a $1,000 cash award to the SOTY, as it has done for decades. A committee of some of the TST BOCES Board of Education members and representatives of local businesses and organizations interview each candidate and collectively choose the winner.
Austin was lauded as “this year’s greatest achiever in his Heavy Equipment class and an excellent example of integrity, quality character, empathy, helpfulness and modesty.” Hehad been called up to the stage earlier to receive the Larry Greene Memorial Award: $1,000 to be used to assist with postsecondary education expenses or to purchase tools and equipment for direct employment.
Anticipation and excitement were high in the room as names were called and there were just two of the four nominees for SOTY remaining.
“I was so nervous that night, and my heart was beating so fast,” Austin said. “I knew there was another person competing who had won an award at SkillsUSA, and I thought that person would win. I smiled from ear to ear and felt on top of the world when my name was called. It was a huge stress relief and an amazing experience!”
Austin’s initial plan after graduating had been to begin working at Economy Pavement, but he will need to put that off for another year first.
Since the days of youth sports, Austin has always been a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball, with football being his favorite. He was the Groton Indians quarterback on offense and middle linebacker on defense, but he had a rough senior year with injuries.
“I broke my thumb during our first home game,” Austin said. “I played the rest of the game, but I had surgery three days later and they put pins in it. I was not missing my senior year of football, so I had a cast covered in foam to continue playing and only missed one game – two days after my surgery.”
Just two months ago, during the baseball season, Austin tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after only five games and had to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the season doing pitch counts.
Fortunately, Austin has worked summers at Footie’s Freez in Cortland for the past three years and will be doing that again this year, as he will not be able to operate heavy equipment for another nine months.
“So, next year I will work at Economy Pavement building bridges and doing pavement work, and hopefully in five to 10 years, I will start my own excavation business,” Austin said. “I still have a lot to learn!”
Austin is grateful for the people in his life. He expressed that in his final remarks when he said, “I want to thank all my family for supporting me and pushing me to do my best, Mr. Kinney for always making sure I was where I should be and not falling off the right path, Brennan for telling me the rights and wrongs of teachers’ expectations and Mr. Brockway for coming to teach in my senior year and helping our Heavy Equipment class grow and succeed.”
Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at 607-227-4922.