General Amherst High School

General Amherst High School
General Amherst High School
Address
	130 Sandwich Street; Amherstburg, Ontario, N9V 1Z8; Canada
Coordinates	42.106744°N 83.11103°W
Information
Motto	lux sit
Founded	1922
School board	Greater Essex County District School Board
Superintendent	Sharon Pyke
Principal	Melissa DeBruyne
Vice Principal	Bonnie Desjardins
Senior Secretary	Sandi Holden
Grades	9 through 12
Enrollment	627 (2019)
Language	English
Area	Amherstburg and southwestern Essex County
Colour(s)	Black and Gold
Mascot	Jeffery the Bulldog
Team name	Bulldogs
Website	www.publicboard.ca/school/gahs/Pages/

General Amherst High School is a high school in the southwestern Ontario town of Amherstburg. GAHS feeder schools are Amherstburg Public School, Anderdon Public School and Malden Central Public School.

Reputation

General Amherst High School is the home of the Bulldogs, which became the school's official mascot in 1994 (they were previously known as the Generals). GAHS has been recognized for a number of causes, including (but not limited to): the Canadian record of per capita student contributions in donations to the Canadian Cancer Society, championships in football, hockey, basketball, track & field, wrestling, tennis, cross country and volleyball; the recipient of several Essex County "Student Prime Minister of the Year" awards (2004, 2005, & 2009) and high rankings in the University of Waterloo Fermat Mathematics competition. General Amherst High School is considered to be one of the more reputable all-around secondary schools in the Windsor/Essex County region; in a 2007 survey of Ontario schools based on academic and all-around performance, General Amherst ranked 29th out of 664.

History

General Amherst High School (circa 1922) Amherstburg, Ontario

The school is named after Jeffery Amherst, who was commander of the British armed forces in North America during the Seven Years' War. The school's construction began in 1921, and completed in 1922. Previously, students in the Amherstburg area who wanted to continue their education past elementary school had to go to the town of Essex, where they were required to pay room and board during the school term.

Although many additions were added to the building in 1953, 1960, 1963 and 1965, the original building can still be seen facing south toward Bill Wigle Park.

In October 2016 the Ministry of Education awarded a $24.3 million grant for the construction of a new Amherstburg High School, which will consolidate the General Amherst HS and Western Secondary School communities. The site of the new school is 15 acres located at the south end of Centennial Park off Simcoe Street between Fryer Street and Victoria Street South. The Town of Amherstburg sold the land to the school board in January 2018.

The following have been Principals of General Amherst High School since 1922, the year it opened:

1922 to 1926 – Mr. Norman Davies
1926 to 1960 – Mr. Walter K. Sidey
1960 to 1962 – Mr. A. A. Martin
1962 to 1969 – Mr. Reg Cozens
1969 to 1987 – Mr. Jack Wilson
1987 to 1989 – Mr. Cliff Pattison
1989 to 1991 – Mr. Rod Paulin
1991 to 1996 – Mr. Reg Simpson
1996 to 1998 – Mr. John Corbett
1998 to 2002 – Mr. Tom Halliwill
2002 to 2009 – Mr. Patrick Catton
2009 to 2012 – Mrs. Mary Edwards
2012 to 2017 – Ms. Hazel Keefner
2017 to present – Ms. Melissa DeBruyne

Athletics

Bulldogs player during 2014–15 season.

Bulldogs goalie during 2014–15 season.

Since its inception, General Amherst has had a reputation as a powerhouse for its athletics program. Most notably, the Sr. Girls Basketball team has broken numerous Ontario records, including the capture of 9 consecutive OFSAA medals (as of 2012) led by longtime coach Dom Silvaggio. The Lady Gens captured their 10th straight WECSSAA title on November 9, 2012 followed by their 9th straight SWOSSAA title on November 20, 2012. The team was defeated by St. Catharines St. Francis in the 2012 OFSAA championship game, missing out on back-to-back gold medals by 2 points.

The Senior Boys Football team captured two straight OFSAA West Bowl Championships in 2 years (2006 & 2007), while the school also took home OFSAA gold medals in Girls Volleyball (2005 & 2009) and Men's Hockey (2003). In the spring of 2009, the Girls Softball team captured the Provincial Championship for the first time in school history.

The school offers a wide variety of sports teams that compete against other GECDSB high schools within the WECSSAA classification. The competitive teams at Amherst include:

Basketball
Volleyball
Football
Baseball/Softball
Hockey
Soccer
Badminton
Curling
Cross Country
Track and Field
Wrestling
Gymnastics
Golf
Tennis
Swimming

Student Council

General Amherst has long been known throughout Ontario for its strong leadership and Student Council activities. The structure upon which the student parliament and its constitution are organized has been used as a model for other area secondary schools in the region for over two decades. The following is a table of the student council's Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers since the 1993–1994 school year:

School Year	Prime Minister	Deputy PM
2017-2018	Linden Crain	Tate Levesque
2016-2017	Ruben Tar	Miya Taylor
2015-2016	Dani Leroux	Darby Roland
2014-2015	Trent Sparling	Michael Andrews
2013-2014	Linsey (Mee Jeong) Lim	Hayley Bartlam
2012-2013	Michael West	Alex Leroux
2011-2012	Scott Sanger	Nick Jones
2010-2011	Katherine Deluca	Meaghan Marton
2009-2010	Blair Connelly	Katherine Deluca
2008-2009	Sean Robinson*	Brett Hedges
2007-2008	Chris Janssen	Evan Barnes
2006-2007	Camille Dipaolo	Daniella Danese
2005-2006	Justin Mackie	Derek Renaud**
2004-2005	Robert Ouellette*	Kurt Kraler
2003-2004	Charlie Simpkins*	Wes Ewer
2002-2003	Lindsay Thrasher	Melissa Danese
2001-2002	Dave W. Ouellette	Victor Kielbasa
2000-2001	Dave W. Ouellette	(none)
1999-2000	Natasha DiNardo	Peter Bortignon
1998-1999	Adam Bramburger	Jennifer Wilson
1997-1998	Krista Sampson	Melissa DiCarlo
1996-1997	Andria Del Rizzo	Adam Bramburger
1995-1996	Stacey Grant	Andria Del Rizzo
1994-1995	Dave Brewin	Adam Dukelow
1993-1994	Adam Dukelow	Dave Brewin

(*) denotes recipient of GECDSB Prime Minister of the Year award

(**) denotes recipient of GECDSB Deputy Prime Minister of the Year award

External links

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