Superintendent Award : Lydia MacDavid

CORNWALL — Lydia MacDavid is not a typical eighth-grade student. She is the winner of this year’s Superintendent Award for Cornwall Consolidated School, and certainly  her grades are good and she is involved in plenty of extracurricular activities.

But Lydia was singled out in particular for her compassion, her loyalty and her ability to understand others.

“She really is a very kind, considerate and thoughtful student,� Principal Bob Vaughan commented when asked about her. “And she’s a great defender.�

In conversation, Lydia seems like a typical upbeat teen. She smiles easily and has a sense of humor.

But she glows when asked about how she became the person she is. She credits the closeness of her family, and said her father in particular has been a great influence on her life.

“My dad works with autistic kids, and I do, too,� she said. “That’s I think why I’m kind and loyal. I understand how they feel and I understand their problems.�

She is the daughter of Andrew and Shaun MacDavid.

Lydia also loves music, and plays the flute in the Regional Band and sings alto in the Cornwall Consolidated School chorus and a cappella group. She plays soccer, basketball and softball at Cornwall and swims on a team in the summer. And she somehow still finds time to help autistic and special needs children in summer.