Global Experiences
DeMatha Stags engage in life-changing experiences outside of the classroom.
The Road to Civil Rights Summer Course
The Road to Civil Rights 2025 Summer Class gathers just before crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The bridge is the historic site of "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, when state troopers and local law enforcement attacked peaceful Civil Rights marchers led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams.
The Road to Civil Rights Summer Course is an opportunity for DeMatha students to encounter first hand historical and sacred places which were significant to the Civil Rights Movement. Over seven days, through nine states, covering over 2,000 miles students visited Fisk University, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Brown Chapel AME Church, The Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the City of St. Jude Parish, and the National Center for Human and Civil Rights to grow in an understanding of the work, dedication, and sacrifice of those committed to bringing justice and equality to places it did not exist as well as to learn the historical context in which this work took place. The objective of the course is to encounter this history and, by doing so be transformed by it. Students read appropriate literary and historical material, keep a journal, and collaborate on a significant presentation that asks them to consider growth in the country and growth in themselves.
The Road to Civil Rights 2025 Summer Class in front of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the pastor at this church when he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955.
French Student Exchange Program
In 2022, Father Josh Warshak, while attending the inter-Trinitarian Pilgrimage to Spain and Morocco met Trinitarian Bishop Aldo Berardi, who heads the pontifical territory of Northern Arabia. Bishop Aldo was stationed in Cerfroid (pronounced sair-frwa), the region in France where St. John de Matha founded the Trinitarian Order not far from St. Joseph School in Château-Thierry. The two created plans for a student-exchange program between St. Joseph School and DeMatha. In the spring of 2024, students from St. Joseph spent an immersive week at DeMatha and visiting sites in Washington, DC, Baltimore, and New York. In the spring of 2026, DeMatha students traveled to France for a week of learning about French history and culture.
Domestic and International Travel
DeMatha Stags engage in life-changing experiences outside of the classroom. In recent years, DeMatha classes, clubs, and teams have traveled to Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Greece, Mexico, China, Hawaii, Arizona, Ilinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and many museums and research site across the Washington area. These trips, organized and led by DeMatha faculty, provide priceless opportunities for students to expand their understanding of the world each other and themselves.
Photo above: DeMatha students at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China with World Languages teachers Rob House and Mingming Hao.