MANCHESTER – At the Monday, May 8, Board of School Committee meeting, Manchester Proud presented four high school students with the Manchester Proud Student Volunteer Award. The award, which includes a $500 prize, was created to recognize Manchester School District students who show exceptional commitment to volunteerism.
The award winners for 2023, shown from left to right above, include:
Ricky Truong, senior, Memorial High School
Fthia Yousif, senior, Memorial High School
Vick Mahindru, junior, West High School
- Akshay Manchanda, junior, Central High School
The students were honored at the start of the May 8 board meeting, and had a chance to meet with Mayor Craig as well. We are proud of all that these students have accomplished, and we can’t wait to see what they do next. Thank you to Manchester Proud for celebrating students’ public service. You can find more about the honorees below, courtesy of Manchester Proud.
Ricky Truong
Ricky Truong is a graduating senior at Manchester Memorial. He will be attending Harvard in the Fall undecided between History and Statistics.
When talking to the mayor about volunteering, he said, "Recently attending DECON with KeyClub, it is amazing collectively as a community that we are able to accomplish so much even when it may not seem like much alone."
His volunteer credentials include Memorial's Key Club, Memorial's Student Council, Memorial's NHS, and Breakthrough Manchester.
In his application, he wrote, "I believe that my volunteerism has had an impact in my community – in my school, in my hometown, in my world."
Fthia Yousif
Fthia Yousif is a graduating senior from Memorial High School, who will attend Yale in the fall to study Political Science.
When talking to the mayor about volunteering, she said, "I am a first-generation, low-income student who immigrated here. College was something I hoped for, I wanted to give back to the school community and assist others in this."
Fthia is the co-founder & co-president of LinkCrew. She designed a college readiness curriculum to support ninth & tenth-grade students. Paired underclassmen with upperclassmen mentors to conduct meetings to prepare students for college admissions and build their high school careers.
Other credentials include KeyClub, Islamic Society of NH Islamic School, Sudanese Community of NH Islamic School and Summer Camp, Student Council, and Newspaper Club.
Vick Mahindru
Vick Mahindru is a junior at Manchester West.
When talking to the mayor about volunteering, he said, "Through KeyClub and advisors like Mrs. Lambert and Ms. Bonte, I learned that it is about the people you touch."
Mrs. Lambert who recommended Vick for the award wrote, "Vick is the first to volunteer each and every time a request is made for volunteers. During his time at West, Vick has found new ways to share his passion for volunteering with others and also learned to volunteer more effectively, so that each time he volunteers he can do so as meaningfully, intentionally, and sustainably as possible."
Akshay Manchanda
Akshay Manchanda is a junior at Central High School.
When talking to the mayor about volunteering, he said, "Before volunteering, I was not aware of the food insecurity problem. I have learned of this crisis affecting our community. Working with the Manchester Soup Kitchen and NH Food Bank to decrease this problem in the community."
Additionally to his work with the Soup Kitchen and Food Bank, Ashkay volunteer credentials include: Central's KeyClub, Central's Robotics, Hillside Middle School, McLaughlin Middle School, and India Association of New Hampshire.
Dr. Tej Dhakar who works with Akshay through the India Association of New Hampshire said, "Whatever Akshay takes up, he does it with interest and dedication. He keeps himself busy with academics, extra-curricular and community service activities. He has achieved so much already and has so many accomplishments to his credit at such a young age. He is an exemplary child."