PROJECT PLAY NH

Kate Aiken is an ambitious first-year student at the University of New Hampshire where she studies Business Administration. After an extensive high school career in DECA, she boasts several leadership and competitive awards for her business and professional skills. Kate also served as managing editor of the Little Green school newspaper and chaired the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council. Aiken completed her education at Manchester Central High School in the top fifth percent of her class as a New Hampshire scholar and received the prestigious Mayor's Award upon her graduation. 

Kate helped found Project PLAY and presently heads the organization's executive branch. She attributes her success to and continues to support Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership as a seminar speaker and facilitator. In college, she enjoys being a part of the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi and can be seen on the sidelines of field and academic arenas supporting her school.

Co-Founder and CEO

Luke Testa is a student of Saint Anselm College and an original co-founder of Project PLAY. He attended the NH HOBY Leadership Conference in 2013 where he was inspired to lead through service. From there, Luke began his journey with Project PLAY. He graduated from Trinity High School in 2015 where he served as the senior class president, varsity basketball captain, and as a member of National Honors Society. He graduated in the top ten of his class and was the recipient of the President's Service Award, Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Scholarship, and the Saint Anselm College Benedictine Community Service Award. He is currently double majoring in Business and Politics at Saint A's.

Growing up, Luke participated in basketball, football, baseball, swim, and track. His involvement with sports revealed to him the invaluable life lessons that sports make available. He is passionate about providing children with these same opportunities to learn and grow through involvement in organized sports, and desires to see every child have the opportunity to play!

Co-Founder and CEO

Lilly Hayward is a junior at Central High School in Manchester, where she enjoys playing in the band, working on the newspaper and literary magazine, and volunteering with Key Club. Lilly was fortunate to grow up participating in local athletics, including dance, soccer, basketball, and softball, and she is currently a dancer with Dimensions and Dance and Ballet Misha. Lilly is eager to encourage physical activity and team building by sharing these opportunities with others in her community through her work with Project Play.

Public Relations Correspondent

Grace Kiritsy is a high school student going into her junior year at Manchester High School Central. She participates in both winter and spring track and field. She has also been a member of Key Club since her freshmen year, DECA since her sophomore year and Amnesty Diversity. In her spare time, Grace volunteers at Kids Cafe through the Salvation Army. As an elementary and middle school student, she played soccer and softball in multiple recreational leagues which inspired her to help with Project PLAY. Her main motive for volunteering with the program is to help provide an opportunity for children in our community to be active through sports.

Equipment Distribution Manager

Andriana Skaperdas is going in to her junior year of high school at Central High School. Since the age of three, Andriana has participated in various types of dance including competition dance. As a child, she swam, played soccer, softball, and basketball for her school, church, and city teams. Andriana is an active member in her church and school community. Weekly, she teaches Sunday's school at her church and is a member of the Key Club, DECA club, assistant editor of the school newspaper, and world language honor society. Andriana has always had a passion for helping her community and after going to the HOBY leadership conference this spring, she learned how to harness her power to help her community. She feels that physical activity is a very important part of a child's life and that everyone deserves the chance to play the sports that they want to. She is very excited to be able to help kids in her community everyday. 

League Relations Correspondent

Jack Kramer is a junior at Manchester Central High School. Jack enjoys playing percussion in Central’s Band and being an Assistant Editor in Chief of New Hampshire's oldest literary magazine, The Oracle. He is also Co- President of Central’s DECA chapter and aspires to be a future business and marketing student. A Manchester native, Jack has participated in teams in Manchester North Little League and Soccer League. At age eleven, he found his favorite sport of competitive swimming. He currently swims for Manchester Swim Team and Central High School’s Varsity Swim Team. Jack is an active member of the Manchester and Hooksett community; he teaches swimming lessons at Southern New Hampshire University and Livingston Park. He is excited to be working with the Project Play team to give children the opportunities he had as a child.

Fundraising and Grant Coordinator