Superintendent Spotlight: Madison Candia

Madison Candia can make an adventure out of anything — even homework. The Warwick Valley Middle School eighth grader is this year’s Principal’s Award winner, given to the graduating student with the highest GPA.

Her approach to schoolwork is simple: be all in. Her favorite subjects are French and ELA, which makes the subjects that don’t come as naturally a matter of pure determination.

“You just have to suck it up and go on with it,” she said. “You’re not going to get everything right, but if you keep going, you’re going to get a lot more right than you would have.”

Communication skills enhanced as a Wildcat Ambassador

Grades, though, are just one part of the story. As a Wildcat Ambassador for the last three years, Madison has spent her middle school years welcoming visitors and new families to the building, and picking up something she considers just as valuable as any class.

“It gives you a sense of how to talk to people,” she said. “You’re showing them around, helping them out, and it gives you a sense of life outside of your family and school.”

A commitment to multiple passions

She’s also been a consistent presence in the orchestra program, playing viola since fourth grade, and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. Her longest-running extracurricular has been Odyssey of the Mind, the creative problem-solving competition she’s been part of since third grade.

Madison qualified for the World Finals five consecutive years, traveling with teammates, staying in college dorms, and figuring out what independence looks like when your parents aren’t in the next room. She found her place as the team’s narrator.

“I like making my voice loud and then making it soft, giving the audience the energy they need, the emotions we’re feeling,” she said. “I really like narrating.”

She plays softball and basketball too, and has a soft spot for the basketball program’s team culture.

“They have this cheesy quote, ‘all in, one family,’ but it actually feels like one family,” she said.

A future entrepreneur?

Madison’s instinct for storytelling, as well as her ease with people, has her eyeing a career in entrepreneurship down the road. She already has a vision...or two.

“I’ve always said I wanted to own a bakery or a coffee shop, and I think that would be really cute,” she said. “But I also want to go global with a product someday. A coffee shop in your local town is one thing, but why not both?”

A lot of that ease with people traces back to her family, and her dad in particular, who she describes as “the kind of guy who strikes up 30-minute conversations with strangers on a boardwalk just because they’re wearing the same team’s sweatshirt.”

“I learned a lot from him,” she said. “Even if someone’s not your best friend, you can still have a connection with them. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Madison heads to Warwick Valley High School this fall, planning to continue with French, orchestra, and chorus. Before then, she’ll deliver a speech at the middle school’s moving-up ceremony on June 24. It’s her biggest public speaking moment yet.

In Madison’s eyes, it’s just another adventure waiting to happen. Every hallway, every new school, every stranger on a boardwalk is an opportunity she doesn’t want to miss.

“There’s no person you’re going to have the same experience with twice, so why not go say hi to everyone?”