For years, the Patriot Ambassadors have served as the student extension of Germantown Academy’s admissions team. Their importance in shaping prospective students’ first impressions of the GA campus and community brought on the call for many new changes within the organization. Entering the 2024-25 school year, the Patriot Ambassadors have reemerged, revitalized as the Mackinetts – a name rooted in GA history – with a renewed sense of purpose.
Key leaders of the Mackinetts, Ms. Weber and members of the new Leadership Council, eight senior ambassadors, put their heads together over the summer to improve the program and come up with a new name in honor of GA’s 265th year.
“It’s a big celebratory year,” Ms. Weber, Head of Admissions said. “We wanted to do something that really honored the history of GA, and we wanted the name to speak to the significance of the history of our school.”
The name “Mackinetts” was inspired by Daniel Mackinett, one of Germantown Academy’s founders. In 1759, Mackinett and a group of parents concerned for their kids’ education gathered in Green Tree Inn with a question: What kind of school could they make for their kids? The Germantown Academy we know of was what they came up with.
“The Mackinetts, our group, is really to honor his vision,” Ms. Weber said. “With every tour they give, with every student they host, it’s really speaking to what they wanted back in 1759. The vision that they had then is what we’re trying to do now.”
The rebranding goes beyond a name change. While the name is rooted in history, the Mackinetts are also ushering in new expectations and commitment for the organization.
“We do have requirements to become a Mackinett,” Anthony Hall ‘25 said. “We want to be more clear on our expectations of what we want you to do as a Mackinett, what a tour looks like, and how you should be representing yourself.”
Hall is an ambassador of the Leadership Council, which currently holds eight senior positions, and manages the student part of the Mackinetts.
Under the program’s structure, sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible to lead tours, while freshman Mackinetts focus on hosting students shadowing the school. However, everyone goes through a revamped training process.
For ninth graders, training consists of attending an informational meeting at break led by LCs; tenth graders and up vying to become Mackinetts must be present at one of these meetings, do a “see one” tour of the Upper School guided by an LC, and then lead a “do one” tour of the Middle School.
“We really just want consistency. We want to make sure that our tour group is solid and that everyone is going the same tour route,” Ms. Weber said. “The tours themselves, at the core, should be the same, but it’s the person that gives it that makes it unique.”
“The training process was fun and rigorous,” Andy Yu ‘27 said. “ It taught me a lot about GA’s history.”
The new and evolved Mackinetts hope to achieve their goals of presenting GA the best they can.
“We wanted our students to show really an authentic version of GA,” Hall said. “How I like to think of it is that we want to show off our home, and so we want our home to be represented the best way possible, and you want to represent yourself as a GA student in the best way possible.”
LC member Charlotte Baughman ‘25, agrees that the Mackinetts are an improvement from the Patriot Ambassadors, specifically because of the passionate and diverse number of student tour guides.
“I think we’ve created a group that has a lot of different interests,” Baughman said. “So I think we’ll be able to really connect with all different types of students that want to come to GA and really represent the GA student body in a very positive, inclusive way.”
This long-standing group is held up by the student ambassadors who act as the face of Germantown Academy admissions. Because of their varied experiences at GA, Mackinetts offer each prospective student insight into different opportunities.
“I remember when I first toured GA and I had a great experience,” Jana Smith ‘27 said. “This all started with my tour in the beginning of the day, so giving tours allows me to give others the same experience I had.”
As the Mackinetts embark on this new chapter, they will continue to develop as a more advanced, experienced, and integrated element of admissions throughout the school year. With a renewed sense of commitment, the Mackinetts will leave a lasting impact on GA legacy.