Brooklyn Sanders (center) was named Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua on April 15. She is shown with Executive Director Craig Fitzgerald and Janeth Galvez Rosario, director of Individual and Family Services. Courtesy photo/Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua

NASHUA – The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua recently honored Brooklyn Sanders, a senior at Nashua High School South, as the 2026 Youth of the Year.

She is a member of Gate City Keystone at the Boys & Girls Club and works at Minds in Motion on West Hollis Street.

Sanders will represent the Boys & Girls Club in the State Youth of the Year competition on May 14.

“My goal is to show my peers that anyone can have a voice and be an advocate for what they believe,” said Sanders.

Looking ahead, Sanders will be working with her aunt this summer at the Girls Summit at Tolles Street Mission Church. She is also planning to take a year off before enrolling at Nashua Community College to study early childhood education.

In addition, four individuals were inducted into the club’s prestigious Hall of Fame.

Kevin Deary’s career with the Boys & Girls Club began at the Nashua location in 1983. Eleven years later, he moved to Indiana and was the CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County until his retirement in January 2023.

As CEO, Deary bolstered membership from 211 to more than 4,000. This allowed him to grow the operating budget from $93,000 to $7.5 million, lead six capital campaigns and increase the endowment to $7 million. As a result, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County received national recognition for “excellence in operations.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America has added Deary to the Master’s and Mentor’s Society, which recognizes the top one percent of club employees across the nation.

In addition to his work with the Boys & Girls Clubs, Deary served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years and competed on the Navy’s boxing team.

He is now the director of Professional and Organizational Development for the Community Foundation of Elkhart County.

Cristhian Londoño, the club’s director of Arts and Youth Voice, discovered the organization after moving to the U.S. when he was 15 years old.

He went on to graduate from Nashua High School North, attended Nashua Community College and became certified as an elementary English teacher in Colombia. He also coached soccer at Nashua North and volunteered with Grow Nashua.

In addition, Londoño established himself in the art industry and launched an initiative to donate art supplies to artists in Honduras.

James and Ann Conway have been pillars of the Boys & Girls Club for the past 32 years. During that time, they have worked tirelessly to expand the arts, food programs and club transportation.

Four Nashua educators were also recognized with Teacher of the Year Awards. They include kindergarten teacher Michele Cook of Ledge Street Elementary School, third grade teacher Rachel Raymond of Ledge Street Elementary School, seventh grade literacy teacher Jeannine Hines of Pennichuck Middle School and science teacher Darryl Green of Nashua High School North.

“The energy and passion on display reflect the incredible potential of our young people when they are given the opportunity to lead and be heard,” said Executive Director Craig Fitzgerald.