General Amherst High School is the home of the Bulldogs, which became the school's official mascot in 1994. GAHS has been recognized for a number of causes, including : 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 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
The school is named after Jeffery Amherst, who was commander of the British armed forces in North America during the Seven Years' War. Since the days of the 2020 Black Lives Matters some Canadians are re-looking at our we honour the people from our past, like Jeffery Amherst. According to P. d'Errico from the University of Massachusetts, British General Sir Jeffrey Amherst urged a colleague to find a way to infect indigenous peoples with smallpox, which is an early form of germ warfare. That practice was done previously in the United States which led to the English capturing a fort. Jeffery Amherst, in a letter in 1763 wrote that the indigenous "people are an 'execrable' race; use every stratagem in our power to reduce them". Does this mean that the name Amherst should be erased? The school is the namesake of the town...Amherstburg. The town has its own historical naming controversy. Re-naming the school would be an excellent first start in demonstrating respect towards our indigenous roots and recognizing our colonial sense of superiority. 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
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 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, while the school also took home OFSAA gold medals in Girls Volleyball and Men's Hockey. 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:
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:
