Member Spotlight

Lily Santy-Glendenning is our newest member spotlight.  She is the daughter of Emily Santy and the late Steven Glendenning. She is fortunate to have an incredibly supportive family, and pays special tribute to her grandparents.  

Lily is originally from Martinsburg and graduated from Martinsburg High School in 2023. Around the time of her graduation, Lily began attending the Disability Action Center. In addition to her class attendance at the DAC, this past summer Lily worked her first job at the Homestead Farm Center as a RURAL trainee. Lily said she enjoyed working with the animals, particularly the sheep and rabbits.  

During her time at the DAC, Lily has grown tremendously. Like most, she was nervous when first attending, but these past few years she has truly flourished. Lily is great to have in class and always humors staff by laughing along with the cheesy puns and jokes and adds in fun facts to whatever topic is being covered. At this summer’s DAC Camp Can-Do, Lily was even able to land one of the leading roles in the episode “DAC Detective”. Even though this episode was done in a silent film style, her animated and comedic personality was able to shine through, which later landed the camp award, “A Dame to Kill For”.

 Outside of her busy schedule at the DAC and HFC, Lily relaxes by reading. Her current favorite book series is “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. When watching movies, she enjoys comedy, fantasy, Disney, and sci-fi movies. Her top choice in movies is Avatar and she is looking forward to the new movie that is coming out.

 When it comes to shows she likes watching game shows, baking shows, and cartoons. The current baking show she is on is “Wizards of Baking”. In addition to movies, tv, and books, Lily loves listening to classical music (Mozart) and rock. Lily says that one of her favorite bands is Arcade Fire, a favorite she was introduced to by her mom.

 One of Lily’s favorite places to eat is McDonald’s. Her favorite meal to order there is chicken nuggets, fries, and a coke. She said she also likes eating turkey and chicken for protein.

 When thinking about someone that she admired most, Lily’s thoughts turned to her dad. Lily describes her dad as being really funny. Her dad was a teacher at Jefferson High School, where he won the award “Teacher of the Year”. He directed musicals and operas, one of which was the musical “Grease”. When thinking back on some of her favorite memories, Lily says she enjoyed watching the show “Crash Box” and eating chocolate donuts in Shepherdstown.

 The DAC clients and staff are privileged to know Lily. She is one of the most thoughtful and friendly people you will meet, who can almost always be found with a beaming smile on her face. We look forward to continuing to watch her grown into the amazing adult we know she will be.