BOUNTIFUL—Kim Austin loves her job at Bountiful High and it shows. As the financial secretary in the main office her focus is on working with athletes, coaches and parents, but her enthusiasm for sports doesn’t stop there, Austin can regularly be found in the stands cheering on the Redhawks even though her kids have all graduated. It was that extra effort that earned her the Utah PTA Outstanding Support Staff award.

“Kim is an amazing secretary but she’s so much more than that,” said BHS Principal Aaron Hogge. “She is a BHS super fan. She attends more events than many administrators do. She’s incredible. You can find her at football games with her kids and grandkids. She lives and breathes what is Bountiful. She’s remarkable.”

Austin started her career at BHS in 2005 as a swim coach. “I did that for 11 years,” she said. “Simultaneously I was the truancy tracker. I dealt with kids who were missing class. Then they added citizenship on top of that. After five or six years I moved into the main office.”

Over the years, all five of her kids have graduated from BHS. Her last one graduated in 2022. “My son-in-law is the head football coach and one of my daughters is the assistant volleyball coach,” said Austin. “It’s because we all love it here. My kids loved having their mom at school. They liked having a place to come. All of them were athletes and since I’m the secretary our paths crossed quite a bit.”

Austin said she misses coaching and the relationships she formed. “That hard work gave me the opportunity to form that with my swimmers but now I get to do that with all the athletes. It’s a broader group of athletes and coaches that I get to create more experiences with.”

One of the things Austin thinks has helped her to excel is her background in coaching. “I was a coach at one time so I know how busy they are,” she said. “I understand the time they put in even after school is over. Ordering equipment, etc. that happens when they go home at night. I know for me when practice ended I’d do athletic stuff. I want to make it as easy as possible for coaches.”

Austin said that’s one of the things that drives her. “I was never a teacher and a coach. It takes one of a kind. I try my best to make things as light as possible to free them up for their families and so they can do their job here.”

In her free time, Austin is learning to play the piano. “I’m in the early stages,” she said. “I don’t read music so it’s almost like learning a new language for me because I don’t remember like I did when I was 20. I’ve always wanted to do it so I’m learning now. It’s fun.”

Austin has worked under three different principles and it will be four once a new principal takes over in the fall. “Ryck Astle hired me,” she said. “When he hired me he said ‘this is like Disneyland every day.’ Don’t tell anyone, but I would do this job even if they didn’t pay me. I love my job.”