MOLLY’S MISSION

Senior Molly Johnson Starts Maclay Ambassador Program To Aid New Students

BY ELLA PORCHER

Transferring to a new school is almost always a difficult feat. Students’ expectations of feeling welcome upon arrival never tend to be met, as changing to an unknown school environment can be a daunting process. No one knew this feeling better than Molly Johnson. As someone who was once a brand new seventh grader struggling to find her place in the Maclay community, Johnson was determined to create a program at Maclay that would make new students feel welcome and change their social dynamic for the better. That program eventually materialized into the Maclay Student Ambassador Program (MSA).

Johnson, who is now a senior, has been at Maclay for six years. Her family was involved with the school even before her arrival, with both her older brothers attending the school and her parents being involved in both the parent ambassadors and basketball programs. With a family so intertwined in Maclay, Johnson looked to create her own impact on the school.

“Sophomore year, in conversations with my friends who had been new students, I decided that the process of shadowing and being a new student at Maclay could be improved,” Johnson said. “So, in a meeting with Mr. Obrect and Ms. Robinson, they asked me if I would help start an ambassador program for Maclay. It has been a big passion of mine, and I have loved getting to help make it grow.”

The MSA is made up of upper school students who showcase leadership, responsibility and an eagerness to act as a welcoming branch for the Maclay community. These ambassadors collaborate with the Admissions Department to help incoming students and freshmen adjust to the difficult transition of switching to a new school and environment, while also promoting school spirit.

“I hope that it will just help people feel like they’re part of a community as new students, but we also are always doing work with current students too,” Johnson said. “I just would hope that it would bring us as a school together more and make people feel like they have a friend.”

Influenced by her personal understanding of what transitioning to Maclay as a new student was like, Johnson was able to use her individual experiences to improve the formerly rocky transition students endured.

“Seventh grade was really hard because it wasn’t considered one of those ‘transition grades,’ so it was not very common for people to come in seventh grade,” Johnson said. “I guess looking back on that is kind of what made me want to do the Ambassador thing it’s kind of missing, that was a goal of the Ambassador program, was to have what we call ‘One School Events,’ which means bringing together the lower school and the middle school and the upper school all together,” Johnson said. “So I really hope that in the future that will happen… Like I said, the goal of it is to make new students and current students just feel like they’re part of a community, and that applies to lower school and middle school students too.”

As part of the senior class, Johnson can only lead the program so far. As she prepares to leave Maclay for college, she is handing down the reins to current sophomore Jaclyn Summers. Even as a younger member of the team, Summers has been a part of the program since its establishment and shares the same drive for creating a community as Johnson.

“My favorite part about the program is definitely getting to meet new students,” Summers said. “Helping out in the community, helping out with the event and getting to work with people higher up at Maclay I think is a really great opportunity for just interacting with the community at Maclay”

Taking over Johnson’s position, Summers hopes to continue the successful journey Johnson has led the Student Ambassador Program on as it continues to grow every year.

“I definitely look up to Molly as one of my role models,” Summers said. “I think she’s really good at public speaking, so from when I got to experience her public speaking, I try to work on that some [too]. I admire how she just helps out, and she is a really kind person, and so I try to be like her and be kind and try to follow her

With students like Johnson, the Maclay community continues to thrive as motivated individuals such as herself are driven to improve inclusivity in their school environment.

“I just think that whenever my family moved to Maclay we just found another family to be a part of,” Johnson said. “I’ve loved being a part of the community. I think I’ll be a Marauder forever.”