The Jordan Center is a state-of-the-art fitness facility that serves the entire GA community, including Middle and Upper School students, employees and external members such as parents, alumni and trustees. It was designed to promote health and wellness with various fitness programs and equipment.
While Upper School students are free to use the Jordan Center whenever they have spare time, Middle School kids can only use it when accompanied by a teacher. Lower School students, however, are not allowed admission. All students must finish a required fitness and safety orientation led by a fitness staff member before using the center.
The Jordan Center also offers its services to other members of the community, such as guardians and parents of students, parents of alumni, alumni and their spouses or significant others, and trustees and their spouses or important others. Every year, external members are required to complete the Fitness and Safety Orientation and must be at least eighteen years old. They also need to provide a photo ID and complete the Jordan Center waiver.
“I typically use the Jordan Center almost every day after practices or just after school with my friends. I believe that the Jordan Center was worth it because of how much better it is compared to the old weight room,” Ryder Ortenstein ’26 said.
The Jordan Center also has a great competitive fitness program that allows everyone in the school a chance to compete against each other: the Iron Patriot Challenge was started to create a physical fitness program involving faculty and students.
“When we created the Jordan Center we felt like it was going to be a natural fit for most of the student-athletes but there are people in the community both faculty, staff, and students lifelong physical fitness would be something they thought they would be interested in” Mr. Tim Ginter, Germantown Academy Athletic Director, said. “So, between Coach Migs and I, we tried to come up with something that could be done by multiple groups of people and not just like the high-level athlete that would be fun and challenging.”
In conclusion, the Jordan Center welcomes both students and outside members and functions as a crucial connection for health and wellness at GA. The center provides an enjoyable environment for everyone by enforcing rules including age limitations and required orientations. Programs such as the Iron Patriot Challenge also help to build enduring exercise routines and a sense of camaraderie.