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Alumni Mission Award

Alumni Mission Award Logo Germantown Academy

The Alumni Mission Award is designed to recognize multiple graduates from the Academy who are living the GA mission: Independent in Thought, Confident in Expression, Compassionate in Spirit, Collaborative in Action, and Honorable in Deed. Nominees must be 10 years out or more from graduation (Class of 2013 or older).

The Alumni Mission Award is bestowed on a bi-annual basis and will be awarded during GA/PC Day & Alumni Weekend, November 10-11, 2023. 

The nomination period has now closed.
We will announce the honorees over the summer and look forward to celebrating them in November! . 

If you have any questions, please email alumni@germantownacademy.org.  
 

MISSION STATEMENT

Our core GA Mission consists of 15 simple but profound words, 15 words that guide our actions and activities each day and every year.

INDEPENDENT IN THOUGHT
A leadership mindset begins with having the independence of thought necessary to seek and find the truth in all that he or she reads, sees, and hears.

CONFIDENT IN EXPRESSION
Independent thinkers become self-confident individuals. Teachers and staff members hear expressed time and time again how confidently GA students comport themselves. Alumni visits around the country remind us that the core of confidence built during GA years holds firm throughout adulthood.

COMPASSIONATE IN SPIRIT
Effective leadership also involves the ability to care about others, to realize that everyone we meet can teach us something valuable and, in turn, can learn something of value from us. True compassion: empathy that enables independent-minded, confident people to recognize that vulnerability is the connecting spirit within us all.

COLLABORATIVE IN ACTION
Collaborative action moves a group forward whether a community, a team, a company, etc... Active "followership" plays a significant role in a meaningful education. Well-educated people have learned when and how to dedicate themselves to the support of the whole.

HONORABLE IN DEED
The Mission Statement recognizes that without personal honor, curious, confident, compassionate people will not engender the trust needed to be effective leaders or followers. GA strives to teach students to hold themselves to the highest personal standards. To achieve this goal, adults in our community must be role models of trustworthy behavior.


2023 Alumni Mission Award Recipients

The Alumni Society Board is proud to announce the 2021 recipients (four in total) of the Alumni Mission Award! We will officially honor them on Thursday, November 11 prior to GA/PC Day & Alumni Weekend. Please enjoy reading excerpts from their nominations and learn how they are all Independent in Thought, Confident in Expression, Compassionate in Spirit, Collaborative in Action, and Honorable in Deed. 

Derrick Pitts ’73

From infinity to beyond is the best way to describe Derrick Pitts, the Chief Astronomer and Planetarium Director for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He is not only the first African American to hold these dual titles at a major science institution in the United States, but he is also the first American to set this benchmark. 

Read More about Derrick Pitts ’73

2021 Alumni Mission Award Recipients

GA honored four Patriots with the Alumni Mission Award during the Alumni Weekend in November 2021.


2019 Alumni Mission Award Recipients

GA honored five Patriots with the inaugural Alumni Mission Award during the Alumni Weekend in November 2019.

Karla Ballard Williams '90

Leaving a successful career in the banking industry, Karla Ballard Williams '90 took a leap of faith and began service work by starting a chapter of the Urban League, an organization aimed at empowering people of color to achieve economic self-reliance, equality, power, and civil rights.

Read More about Karla Ballard Williams '90