Global Excursions
Australia Trip - 1986
Katie Hanton, a 19-year-old Athens woman who graduated from Athens District High School, traveled down to Australia for a three-month sailing Brigantine in 1986 as a part of a student learning experience in Australia. The trip showed Katie’s survival skills, including building campfires and surviving in a rainforest environment with peers from all different countries. Katie tells of her journey through a newspaper article she wrote after her trip. She talks about all the different places she traveled to and what she learned on her once in a lifetime journey. At the end of Katie’s three-month trip, she arrived back in her hometown, Athens. Katie brought back an Australian flag and presented it to Andrew Newman, the head of Athens District High School parliament, during a parliament session in November 1986
A.D.H.S. Japan Trip -1998
In 1998, an ADHS teacher, Mr. Steve MacKinnon and his DCS 4A1(computer studies) students won the grand prize in an international internet competition. The principal at the time, Arlie Kirkland, sent letters to Mr. Herb Scott, the current mayor of Athens, seeking financial aid for the Japan trip. He also sent letters to Gary Bennett, the mayor of Kingston, and Ben TeKamp, mayor of Brockville, thanking them for their support and interest. Here is an email from Darlene Noonan, treasurer of the Athens town council, talking about an enclosed donation of $200. $100 per student representing ADHS in Japan. Included is a list of all the Canadian schools that were picked to go to Japan.
Costa Rica - 2011
England, Ireland, Wales, and France - 2012
Experiences Canada Exchange - 2019
In the Fall of 2019, Mrs Lawrence, Mr St Onge and 20 students participated in an Experiences Canada exchange with Sylvan Lake, Alberta.
Over the course of our week hosting, students and teachers visited areas in Ontario, including Parliament and the Supreme Court in Ottawa, Old Montreal, took a 1000 Islands Cruise, CN Tower, visited Ripely’s Aquarium and caught a Blue Jays game. Locally, students and families shared some of their favourite spots with their exchange partners, and hosted a pot luck dinner at the school.
A few weeks later, Athens students took off for Sylvan Lake. While in Alberta, they visited the West Edmonton Mall, Drumheller and the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise, the Calgary Zoo and caught a Calgary Flames game. The exchange families also showed some of their favourite spots, too.
It was an action packed two weeks, where students made some wonderful memories. For many students, this was their first time away from home, their first plane ride, their first time visiting a province outside of Ontario.
Banff National Park
Parliament Hill
Lake Minnewanka
"WE WERE HERE" - UCDSB HISTORY TRIP - 2024
France and Belgium
The "We Were Here" History Trip organised by the UCDSB was a powerful and meaningful WWI experience that brought history to life for the students involved. Sixteen students (six from Athens - Lilly Taylor, Aaron Smid, Owen Miles, Ollie Healey, Alex Simmons, and AJ Irvine) and two teachers (one from Athens - Ms. Shannon Campbell) were selected to take part in this unforgettable journey, during which each student was assigned a First World War soldier from their own community to research and honour. Students carefully studied their soldiers’ service records, entered their findings into the national database, and created personal projects that paid tribute to their sacrifices. These projects were presented at the soldiers’ gravesites in Europe, where students also conducted grave rubbings as a way to commemorate and connect with the past. The trip included visits to significant historical sites such as Vimy Ridge, Beaumont-Hamel, the Menin Gate Memorial, multiple WWI cemeteries, and the John McCrae Field Hospital, with a final stop in Paris on the last day—making the experience both deeply educational and profoundly moving.
Ypres, Belgium
Vimy Ridge Trenches
Discovering Paris
For more on students solider research projects, see WWI - Athens Honour Roll.
"WE WERE HERE" - UCDSB HISTORY TRIP - 2025
Northern France
The "We Were Here" History Trip organised by the UCDSB gave four Athens Warriors the incredible opportunity to explore important moments of the Second World War. Each student was assigned a WWII soldier to research, allowing them to learn about real people from history and the sacrifices they made. The trip included visits to major historical sites such as Vimy Ridge, D-Day beaches, and Dieppe, helping students connect their research to the places where history unfolded and making the experience both meaningful and memorable.
Photo by Dennis Sullivan. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada, PA-132651.
