CROTHERSVILLE
Cheerleading, C4 and clubs have played a big part in Madison Hunnicutt’s time as a Crothersville High School student.
She was a cheerleader all four years, went to C4 Columbus Area Career Connection her junior and senior years and was a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions for three years and Fellowship of Christian Students for two years.
As the 18-year-old receives her high school diploma Friday night, she will take those experiences with her as she moves forward in life.
“It’s something that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Hunnicutt said.
Unlike some of her 27 classmates, she’s not ready to graduate.
“I’m the type of student that likes going to school because they like to spend time with everyone making the memories,” she said. “You always see the students going ‘I can’t wait to graduate.’ I’m not like that. I feel like no one understands that because they are ready to leave, and I’m just like, ‘I don’t want to leave.'”
Perhaps that’s because Hunnicutt has been a student at Crothersville since she was in kindergarten.
“Mostly recess,” she said, smiling, when asked what she remembers about elementary school. “And the teachers were always caring. They always seemed to put their students first.”
As she went through junior high, she said she made more friends, which helped as she took the next step to high school.
Hunnicutt said she decided to try cheerleading because it was something different and she felt it would bring out her personality more.
She practiced two to three times a week and also spent time at All-Star Tumbling in Scottsburg on Thursdays for extra skills. That helped her be ready to cheer on the Tigers basketball team at home and away games.
“We always encouraged the fans to get involved, so we would go out there during the timeouts to cheer, and we would do the chants where it included the fans,” she said.
One of the most memorable moments was when the boys team won sectional in 2020 at Edinburgh. That was the first boys basketball sectional title in school history and only the school’s second sectional title in any sport after the girls basketball team won sectional in 2017.
“It was amazing. It was like, ‘Wow! This is really happening,'” she said.
Hunnicutt also was awarded for her cheerleading efforts, earning the mental attitude award as a freshman and best all-around award as a sophomore, both as a member of the junior varsity squad, and the mental attitude award her junior year and best all-around award and Paula Joy Sweany Cheerleader of Excellence Award her senior year. The latter was for cheering all four years.
“It allowed me to talk to more people because when I first started cheering, I was the shiest person ever, and it allowed me to get a really good group of friends and family,” she said of her cheer career.
With SADD, Hunnicutt said the group met once a month, and one of its main events was a mock wreck to bring awareness to distracted driving during prom season. Members also made posters to spread awareness to not make bad decisions.
FCS started at the school her junior year. Hunnicutt said she joined because she grew up going to church.
“We would have morning worship every Wednesday, and we would come in and have doughnuts and we would sit there and pray, and Scripture would be read by Logan Oakes,” she said. “I feel like I could really be myself there and understand people believe what I do.”
With C4, Hunnicutt initially chose cosmetology but made the switch to nursing.
“My parents kind of pushed me because I wasn’t really interested in nursing at first, and they were like, ‘Just go and try it. You might like it. You never know,'” she said. “I went and I was like, ‘Wow! I kind of have a really good interest in this.’ I’ve had some family members in the hospital, and I always liked seeing the nurses help them.”
She boarded a bus at Crothersville to go to classes in Columbus for an hour and a half. Her junior year, she worked at a nursing home, Lake Pointe Village in Scottsburg, from November 2019 to January 2020 and earned a certified nursing assistant certification.
Her senior year, she was supposed to work in a hospital, but that didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later this month, she will receive a certified medical assistant certification.
“My family always told me ‘We didn’t have those opportunities,’ so I’m just grateful that I have something like that,” she said. “I feel like it has helped me take the steps that I need early on.”
After graduation, she plans to get a job at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour and work for a year until pursuing an associate degree in nursing through Ivy Tech Community College. She recently received a $1,000 Sertoma Club of Jackson County Scholarship to put toward her studies.
“Then after that, the hospital says that they offer online bachelor’s, so you can get that while you’re still working,” Hunnicutt said.
At Schneck, she plans to figure out her ultimate career goal.
“Once I get in the hospital, I think I’ll have more of an understanding of what I want to start going toward,” she said.
For other students, Hunnicutt encourages them to pursue programs like C4 and to be involved in as much as possible.
“Always try something new,” she said. “Even if you’re like, ‘Ah, I probably won’t like that,’ just try it out, see how it goes and you never know.”
She then offered one final piece of advice.
“Do your homework,” she said. “I know you don’t want to do it, but if you just do it and get it over with, it’s going to be worth it in the end.”
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Name: Madison Hunnicutt
Age: 18
Hometown: Crothersville
Residence: Crothersville
School: Crothersville High School
School activities: Cheerleading, Students Against Destructive Decisions, Fellowship of Christian Students, C4 Columbus Area Career Connection (certified nursing assistant and certified medical assistant certifications)
Future plans: Work for a year at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour before working toward her associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing
Family: Mother, Denise Strong; stepfather, Corey Strong; sister, Emma Strong; grandmother, Shirlan Carter
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What: Crothersville High School graduation
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Gymnasium at Crothersville High School, 109 S. Preston St., Crothersville
Who: 28 members of the Class of 2021
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