GMSD Ambassadors Kick Off 2026-27 With a New Team and New Opportunities

What does GMSD look like through the eyes of its students?

That is the question members of the 2026-27 GMSD Ambassador Program will help answer this year as they represent the district throughout the Germantown community.

The new group of student ambassadors came together for its first quarterly meeting, officially kicking off a year of community events, school tours, service opportunities and student storytelling.

The Ambassador Program gives students a chance to represent more than Houston High School. Ambassadors speak on behalf of the entire district, sharing the opportunities, experiences and perspectives that make up student life in GMSD. They may accompany district staff to community engagements, volunteer at events and serve as student liaisons to Superintendent Jason Manuel through district committees. 

Leading the group is Harrison Coverdale, GMSD Student School Board Representative, who presides over the ambassadors and serves as a connection between students, district leadership and the Germantown Board of Education. 

Within the larger ambassador group, students were also selected for leadership roles representing different areas of the student experience:

Student School Board Representative: Harrison Coverdale
Student Life: Nikita Rawla, Maddie McCann and Anita Anyanwu
Academics: Shriyansh Gorantla, Aubree Jiang and Raymon Stanley
Fine Arts: Mateus De Freitas, Betsy Rivas and Toby Gescheit
Athletics: Cornelius Martin Jr., Ella Archibald and Matthew Durkin

The Media Team includes Reese Ford, Christina Anderson, Omari-Jalee Harryson Jolliffi, Myles Martin, Emily Grace Felipe, Anna Wiadacz, Abby Wang, Zoe Moore, Muslima Dadanova, Sanjukta Hima Nayani, Caroline Bell and Saatvik Srinivas. 

Another familiar group of student storytellers also doubles as GMSD Ambassadors: the district’s 2026-27 student interns. This year’s interns are Sarah Pennington, Rachel Yan, Sasa Djergovic, Eyinjuoluwa “Deborah” Adeboye, Charles Cox, Shivansh Singla, Spencer Malahy, Mack Stuart, Willis Bowman, Brooke White, Yifei Ren, Devika Mehr and Sophia Rus.

Together, they join a much larger ambassador group that includes JD Zatar, Mathew Wu, Brant Wells Loper, Jieying Zen, Aiden Fisher, Mary Hancock, Davis Shipman, Addison Campbell, Abigail Richardson, Addyson Peterson, Karmen DuBose, Jazmine Nesbit, Veronica Velychko, Madaan Kabneh, Oluwatosin Akinjinmi, Caroline Anderson, Aarav Yaligar, Bradley Green, Jared Redmond, Nava VanderWalde, Paige Cho, Rylan Askins, Heer Khatri, Greta Newhouse, Tamia Wright, Brynn Cash, Lilly Crain, Natalie Arnold, Davis Moak, Kylie Dai, Margaret MacNamara, Olamide Tom, Ellie Jee, Medha Gajula, Yihan Li and Shruti Mandavilli.

So, what exactly does a GMSD Ambassador do? The answer is a little bit of everything.

Most importantly, ambassadors help community members understand what being a GMSD student looks like today. They are there to answer questions, share their experiences and offer something no brochure or presentation can quite replicate: the student perspective. 

At their first meeting, students learned that smaller groups will be assembled for individual appearances based on the needs of each event. Students interested in representing GMSD at those engagements will prepare a personal 90 second introduction about why they love GMSD. 

They will not have to wait long to put those skills to work. Upcoming appearances include the Germantown Neighborhood Summit on Sept. 29, NightRider on Oct. 2, the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Oct. 21, the GMSD Real Estate Academy on Oct. 22 and a Kiwanis meeting on Oct. 29. Ambassadors will also assist with school tours throughout the year. 

For community members, those appearances provide another way to learn about GMSD. For students, they provide a chance to build confidence, make connections and have a voice in how their school district is represented.

And with dozens of students ready to share their corner of the GMSD experience, there will be plenty of stories to tell.