Valedictorian: Lily Hyde

Lily Hyde is FWCD’s Class of 2024 Valedictorian. She will attend the University of Virginia, where she plans to double major in business and psychology. She is drawn to the field of psychology because of its versatility and application to business, law, medicine, finance, education, marketing, politics and more. “Whichever field I may eventually work in, there’s no doubt that understanding the ins and outs of human behavior will be tremendously beneficial,” Lily said.

Lily has lived out her passion for psychology, neuroscience and human behavior with an organization she formed at FWCD called Brain Buddies. Its members strive to instill passion and curiosity for the brain among the FWCD community’s young minds while bridging the gap between two diverse age groups—elementary and high school—through learning, mentorship, bonding, and fun. Through an array of hands-on activities, experiments, games, demonstrations, and lessons, high school student teachers (Brain Buddies leaders) teach their fourth grade buddies anything and everything related to the brain—anatomy, function, senses, concussion prevention, sleep, dreams, memory, nutrition, and development. Lily founded the organization as a sophomore and served as President for three years. She grew the club from 40 student volunteers to more than 200. Lily’s Senior Capstone project focused on developing a comprehensive Brain Buddies curriculum to leave for her successor, which could be accessible to schools nationwide through online subscription. Her goal is to inspire young students to be scientists themselves.

One of Lily’s favorite classes was AP English Literature during junior year with Leigh Block, also the School’s Athletic Director. “Take risks. That was his mantra every single day of class,” she said. “Take risks with your writing; take risks in everything you do. By constantly pushing us to venture out of our comfort zone, my writing now has so much more dimension, personality and originality. And that’s an irreplaceable gift.”

Lily experienced Block’s passion for teaching firsthand. “I don’t think there was one day of class where he didn’t light up as he was teaching, and this is just such a special thing to experience as a student,” she said. “The care and attention he dedicated to helping me improve my writing and make it the best it could be made me want to put the same care and attention to it, too. Whatever I do in life, I aspire to be as passionate about it as Mr. Block is about teaching.”

An FWCD Original, Lily has taken FWCD’s most challenging courses and is committed to academics. She is often a student that others reach out to for assistance when in need. Inducted into the Cum Laude Society as a junior, she also was honored with the Yale Book Award, the Brown University Book Award, and the Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award. She was also cited as one of the Outstanding Undergraduates in Science. Immersed in the School’s ballet program as a dancer and, recently, as a student choreographer, she earned the Gail Corkery Award, which is given to the junior student who best combines academic excellence with outstanding dedication to the ballet program. She was also a semifinalist for the merit-based Morehead-Cain scholarship.

Outside of school, Lily is driven to make a difference. She has served on the Kimbell Museum Teen Council. As the youngest and only high school intern at the North Central Chapter Alzheimer’s Association in summer 2022, she expanded the chapter’s partnership with the James L. West Center for Dementia Care and recruited 1,500 participants, volunteers and company sponsors for the 2022 Walk to End Alzheimer’s. In 2023, she interned with the James L. West Center as its only high school volunteer. She mastered Alex Trebek’s iconic Jeopardy! voice when leading group games, and she danced, sang, painted, baked, fed and read with over 100 residents living with mild to severe dementia.

When asked what she will miss most about FWCD, Lily noted the special community: the classmates she has spent the past 13 years with, the wonderful memories they made, and the caring faculty and staff.