Boucher Teen Leader Legacy

Toni Boucher has been a source of support for our organization for many years. Her late husband Bud served as treasurer of our board and was fiercely devoted to making sure the Wilton community understood the value of Trackside.

Collectively they have a long history of helping young people in the areas of education, excellence, leadership, confidence building and being of service to the greater community. They believe in hard work and generosity of spirit.

These values also lie at the heart of our efforts at Trackside, which is what led to the creation of THE BOUCHER TEEN LEADERSHIP LEGACY.

You can learn more about this Legacy here

MEET OUR TEEN LEADERS

Abby Savage

Kitchen Craft Cooking Leader

Abby is a sophomore at Wilton High School and started coming to Trackside as a 6th grader. She participated in many different clubs, including cooking with her friend and co-leader Natalia. Abby wanted to work at Trackside because while she's enjoyed all the clubs she's participated in, she developed a special fondness for the cooking club. When the previous leaders graduated, she jumped at the opportunity to take over.

What Abby loves most about Trackside is that it is a fun space for people to get together and spend time as a community.

Fun fact about Abby: She's an avid soccer player and has traveled to multiple countries to compete! Most recently she went to Ireland where her team placed 2nd overall!

NATALIA HENKIN

Kitchen Craft Cooking Leader

Natalia is a sophomore at Wilton High School and started coming to Trackside in 6th grade. As a middle schooler she took part in one of the cooking clubs with her friend and fellow co-leader, Abby. Natalia wanted to work at Trackside because it's giving her an opportunity to do two things she loves most - working with kids and cooking!

What Natalia loves most about Trackside is all the different people she's gotten to meet over the years.

Fun fact about Natalia: Her birthday is on the 4th of July!

GABE RUTKOWSKI

Dungeons & Dragons Master & Cafe Leader

Gabe is a junior at Wilton High School and has been a familiar face at Trackside for the past 7 years. He is a dependable presence in both Dungeons & Dragons and at the Snackside Café. If you've had the pleasure of working with him, you know he takes great care of the space and is always willing to lend a helping hand—qualities we truly appreciate! Gabe chose to work at Trackside because he’s grateful for the community it has provided for him since he was a kid and he feels fortunate to have the opportunity to give back.

What Gabe loves most about Trackside is how it gives kids a safe space to be themselves.

Fun fact about Gabe: He's a writer and hopes to publish a book one day!

ZACH NORTHWAY

SNACKSIDE CAFE LEADER

A freshman at Wilton High School, Zach has been coming to Trackside for 4 years. For the past year, he’s been working at the café and assisting with the Gamers Club. Zach wanted to work at Trackside because, after being part of it for so long, he wanted the opportunity to give back.

What Zach loves most about Trackside is the supportive and positive community he's found here.

Elliot, a 6th grader who comes to Trackside, says: "Zach is always super patient and nice, even when the line for food is really long!"

Fun Fact about Zach: He has been a vegetarian since he was 5 years old!

JAMES LILLIS

Our Master Chef & Gamers Club Leader

A junior at Wilton High School, James has been a familiar face at Trackside since he was in 6th grade. He helps out with Gamers Club on Fridays and recently joined our kitchen crew, where he’s put his culinary skills to work, adding some delicious new menu items, like Chicken & Waffles and Honey Sriracha Chicken.

James wanted to work at Trackside because it means a lot to him and was a place to escape the world during middle school.

What James loves most about Trackside is that it is a place where you can go to do pretty much anything you're interested in.

Fun fact about James: He loves Marine Biology!

MEIRA FLAVIN

A junior at WHS, Meira has been a part of the Trackside community since her freshman year.

She decided to lead a club here to share her passion for crochet with others. Her goal is to help grow the Crochet Club at WHS while giving middle schoolers an early chance to learn the craft.

What Meira loves most about Trackside is the stress-free, welcoming atmosphere.

Ellie, a student in Meira's group, shares, "She's really nice—super patient and great at explaining how to do chains, single crochets, and double crochets."

Fun fact about Meira: She once had the unique opportunity to pet a rhino! She's also known for treating her middleschool teens to Dunkin Donuts each week! YUM.

PAST LEADERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Anagha Khisti is a senior at Wilton High School who began her journey at Trackside with the Running Club in and attending some events from time to time. Currently she is one our incredible Mock Trial Leaders. Anagha is the secretary for Mock Trial at the high school. She is very excited to graduate high school and plans to pursue graduate or law school.

A fun fact about Anagha is that she loves to draw.

When we asked Anagha, what makes Trackside special to her she replied, "Trackside is special to me because I think it’s an amazing place that brings people together and where you can make new friends while learning something new."

Norah is a senior at Wilton High School and has been Snackside Cafe Manager for almost a year now. Norah is looking forward to college and growing up. She would love to be a lawyer. When Norah is not at Trackside she can be found working Stage Managing for local theater around Wilton. Most recently Norah was on stage for FREE PLAY IMPROV at WHS.

Fun Fact about Norah - she has really good taste in music and can do an excellent Jennifer Coolidge impersonation.

When we asked Norah what make’s Trackside special to her she said, “It helped me a lot through middle school and it feels like a tight-knit family.”

Thomas is a senior at Wilton High School and has been with Trackside for about 3 years, doing a little bit of everything from Rentals, Town-Talks, Floor Management, Front of House/ cashier, fill-in for Quiz-bowl but what he is most known for is being one of our incredible PrePlay Improv Coaches as well as one of the original teen leaders to come up with the idea for the Late Night initiative.

Thomas is looking forward to graduating, moving on to college, being done with the crippling anxiety that comes with college applications and homework, living on my own (again)! He plans to work in foreign service and fields with languages. Fun Fact: Thomas can wiggle his ears and speak 5 languages.

When we asked Thomas, what makes Trackside special to him, he shared, “I love the community built around it. It a place of total inclusivity without any bias against people. It’s a place for expression, small business, and self-discovery. It’s everything I want to do as a career condensed into a small-town package.”

Sayuki is a senior at Wilton High School who has been an involved at Trackside for the last 3 years as a Coach for Preplay. This year Sayuki is most looking forward to coaching more pre play shows, and to participate in all the music related events at the high school. Sayuki is insanely talented and always smiling!

She brings her incredible personality at every Trackside event and we cannot wait to see where Sayuki lands in the future! Fun Fact, her favorite color is green.

When we asked Sayuki what makes Trackside special to her, she replied “It’s a special place to me because everyone here is so fun to be around, and are committed to making it a safe place.”

Eli is a senior at Wilton High School who has been an involved at Trackside for the last 6 years!! For the last two years Eli can be found in our back of house, cooking in our Snackside Cafe Kitchen where he knows the orders of kids before they ask! Eli helped restart the cafeteria program after years of inactivity, and re-established a functioning food service at Trackside.

Eli plans to pursue a Baccalaureate in Finance, Economics, or Mathematics and intend to earn an M.B.A. in Financial Engineering. Eli is most excited about College decisions, “the idea of being accepted into a prestigious university, even if not my top choice, has excited me deeply for the past few months.”

When we asked Eli what makes Trackside special to him, he replied “Trackside is the beginning of my week, and it makes every Monday more tolerable. It’s a break in my day that, while productive, is also fun. It gives me an opportunity to engage with people of a much different group of people then I ever usually interact with. It’s an opportunity to be social outside of the academic world which would otherwise be rare in Wilton, where most of the clubs are school sponsored.”

Tom is a senior at Wilton High School who has been a part of Trackside for the last 5 years. Tom can usually be found in our Snackside Cafe cooking or taking orders. He is extremely helpful with our gamers on Thursdays setting all the gaming stations up and planning tournaments. Tom also helps with our summer camps and movie nights.

Tom would like to pursue something in sound engineering or marketing. He is most excited t0 have senior privileges this year. Fun Fact: Tom is very involved in the high school music program and has also been a video game enthusiast all my life.

When we asked Tom what makes Trackside special to him, he replied "I love how inviting the environment is and it's a very comfortable place to be."

Adi is a senior at Wilton High School who has been a part of Trackside since he was in 10th grade. Adi is also one of our Student Board Members, creating and leading both our Ultimate Frisbee and Chess Club offerings. Adi has volunteered and set up multiple events at Trackside including our High School Panel to support rising freshman with course choices. (Be on the look out for this again in January).

Adi would like to pursue something tech related and is currently leaning towards cybersecurity. Adi is excited to get the most out of his final year of high school and enjoying it with friends. Fun Fact: Adi's favorite animal is a giraffe.

"Trackside truly embodies a place where there is a place for everyone. I get to see different people of different interests and backgrounds all come together and create a unique community. Getting to see and be a part of community is what makes Trackside special to me."

Illeas, a senior at Wilton High School, began coming to Trackside as a teen and has been a PREPLAY IMPROV Coach for 3 years. He's a big reason why our Improv club is a huge success.

A fun fact about Illeas is he used to have really long hair. Illeas loves the people and climate at Trackside and has never enjoyed working anywhere as much as he loves working at Trackside. Come to Trackside on a Wednesday afternoon and you will witness pure joy!

When we asked what excites him the most about this year, he replied, "College."

Illeas plans to major in English and to be the author of a book. You can see some of his writing here:

https://www.beholder.blog/post/an-amazing-sight

Cora has been working at Trackside for the past three years and is a senior at Wilton High School.

She can be found in the Snackside Cafe on Friday afternoons, but she started out by leading programs in Spring of 2022 - Girls Who Code club, Summer 2022 - Girls STEM camp, Summer 2023 - STEM camp for everyone (2 weeks), and supporting on many events!

Cora is an important member of our Student Board contributing valuable ideas to the organization at large and always willing to lend a hand. Last year Cora baked and sold cookie packages at Valentine's Day and donated her funds to Trackside. Cora is interested in Mechanical Engineering, but also likes to cook and bake. This year Cora is most excited to hang out with her friends.

Cora believes, "Trackside is a place where lots of different types of people can get together and hang out."

Emmy is a senior at Wilton High School who started out as a teen in 7th grade in Preplay Improv at Trackside and has been a coach since sophomore year. Emmy is so excited to be back at Trackside leading Preplay Improv with her friends who are all in the same AP LIT CLASS this year! She's looking forward to all the traditions of Senior Year, classes with friends and shows at the WHS. She recommends that "everyone come see the shows at the high school!"

Emmy has many ideas as to what she may do beyond high school. She's looking into education with a minor in science (possibly chemistry or environmental science) and also thinking of pursuing a major in the veterinary field.

When asked what makes Trackside special, Emmy shares, "Trackside is special to me because I've been here since I was in seventh grade when the Preplay program first started. It's been really awesome for me to get to carry on the traditions in Preplay as a coach five years later. It's also just a great environment, and it's helped me a lot over the past few years."

A senior at Center For Global Studies who has been with Trackside Teen Center for four years. Will was our first Dungeon Master starting the program in 2020. His efforts have helped expand our D&D program, bringing forth a new generation of Dungeon Masters. Will also started and leads our Coding Club.

He's a proud Member of the National Honor Society, speaks Mandarin Chinese and is an apprentice at Ambler Farm since 2020 and mentor since 2021. Will plans to study computer science in college and possibly teach it in the future.

Will enjoys playing chess, reading, doing school/community theater, playing guitar and is looking forward to continuing on his competitive Fencing journey and improving his ranking with USA Fencing and recently qualified and competed in the Summer National Fencing Tournament.

Trackside is special to Will because "it's a place where everyone can be themselves and join a community of kids who share their individual interests."