Senior theater and education major Dustin Hunter from Lyndonville, was selected as the Saint Michael's College student presented with a Commitment to Service and Engagement Award. Dustin coordinates the DREAM mentoring program through Saint Michael’s MOVE (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts) service program. Through DREAM, Dustin has organized and trained mentors for 35 six- to 15-year-old children from the Franklin Square Housing Development in Burlington.
Dustin did several Extended Service trips, working with children in poverty in Long Island and with homeless teens in Buffalo. Then he assumed the task of managing logistics and training for all 11 domestic SMC Extended Service trips. Over spring break, he led a student trip to Immokalee, Fla., where he worked with migrant farm workers and an after-school program. Dustin is also coordinator of student tour guides, and is serving as secretary of academics for the student government.
As part of his senior seminar, Dustin has worked this year with a third grade class at the IntegratedArts Academy of the H. O. Wheeler School in the Old North End of Burlington. The youngsters converted a storybook titledWestlandia into a play which they will perform at noontime at Saint Michael’s on April 21.
Saint Michael’s senior biology major, Eric Larkin from Richardson, Texas, was a finalist for the Madeleine M. Kunin Public Service Award, which recognizes a student for his or her outstanding leadership and service through a spectrum of efforts. Eric leads three MOVE service programs: TREK, the new student service orientation, volleyball at the correctional center, and the Extended Service Program. These programs have involved him in a variety of projects, including service trips to Kentucky, New Orleans, Long Island, Boston, and in May a three-week trip to Kolkata, India.
For three years Eric was an active member of the Saint Michael’s Fire and Rescue Department. He is a student ambassador for admissions, a participant and leader of a LEAP spiritual retreat through Campus Ministry. He is also the principal organizer of the “Fix it with Five” program, that collects $5 from each Saint Michael’s student to be donated through an application process to a local charitable organization to advance sustainability, not just to meet an emergency need.
