Sydney Hunt, a first grade teacher at Creekview Elementary, was recognized at the Carbon School Board meeting on Wednesday for once again taking life-saving actions in her classroom.
Hunt was recognized in March of 2022 alongside another staff member for performing the Heimlich maneuver when a student began choking while eating his lunch. With Hunt being so young in her teaching career, it was stated by the Carbon School District’s administration that is it is usually unheard of for teachers to have to perform the Heimlich maneuver ever within their years of teaching.
However, Hunt once again was forced to perform the Heimlich maneuver in her classroom during this school year just before Christmas break. While reading a story that mentioned butter barrel candy, Hunt wanted to add to the experience by providing those candies in her classroom. Unfortunately, one of her students began choking on the candy. Hunt was quick to action by beginning to perform the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the candy from the child’s airway and was successful.
The student teacher advisor that witnessed the incident in the classroom expressed to the administration that she was highly impressed with Hunt’s calm composure and quick reaction time.
“We are so proud of our teachers who invest so much and care about these kids just as much as the parents do,” said Carbon School District Elementary Director Stacy Basinger.
With high emotions, board president Jeffery Richens ended the item of the meeting with a heartfelt message by thanking the teachers for all that they are willing to do in the classroom.
“The administrators appreciate all that you do,” he said.