"The key project goal is to build an outdoor classroom on the north side of the school, close to student entrance, adjacent to an existing garden. The project will provide opportunities for students to connect with the living world and to provide an alternate, more engaging setting to achieve curricular outcomes in subjects including science, language arts, social studies, health, and physical education. The project will also provide opportunities for students to engage in naturalizing and greening the school yard through careful cultivation of plants, shrubs, and trees that are native to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Through an initial consultation with the school community, students said they wanted a space for learning that allows for movement, a space for learning that is beautiful, a place where they could do hands on science, descriptive writing, poetry about the natural world, lessons about the environment, and photography."

The idea is to build seating for 30 students, low tables for group work, a covered shelter to protect against the elements, an outdoor white board, a storage area for science equipment, and a garden for trees and flowers.

In order to achieve these goals, the school community has raised $7000 from our 50/50 draw.

The Toronto-based organization Evergreen, which specializes in schoolyard renaturalization, has responded positively to our request for help with landscape architecture design for this project.

Neverware is a company that makes a free operating system that converts older machines so they can run on Chrome, giving them a second life. Plus, if your household only has one computer at the moment, this update can help ease the strain on everyone trying to go online.

Visit the Neverware site at https://www.neverware.com/freedownload to download the free Home version. They also have an install guide to help you through the process. We have used the Educational version of this at MDJH, and while it will not create a true ChromeBook, it comes pretty close. - Mr. Walsh

Our school science fair on March 12 was a great success. It showcased mostly grade 7 students, with the addition of a few determined scientists in grades 8 and 9. In all, we had almost 100 projects registered, with fifteen judges drawn from St. John’s scientific community. Judges were very impressed with the overall calibre of the projects and enjoyed the experience of talking with our students. The science department is proud of all our students who participated and excited to announce the top projects of the MDJH Science Fair 2020.

Grade 7

• Ibrahim Anwar, 7-1
• Billie Taylor, 7-2
• Sydney Nichols, 7-2
• Orpa Hawlader, 7-3
• Sawyer LeBlanc, 7-3
• Caroline Hubley and Maria Stone, 7-5
• Megan McCallum, 7-5
• Nancy Hassan and Karlee Butt, 7-6
• Ella Brown and Sophie Rideout, 7-6
• Alexander Kennedy and Sam Beckett, 7-8
• Grace Ryan and Quinn Schmiedendorf, 7-8
• Eric and Emily Guzzwell, 7-9
• Olivia Harding and Isla Growns, 7-9
• Sarah Jewer and Breanna Woodrow, 7-9
• Andrew Squires, 7-9
• Lucas Osborne, 7-9

For students in grades 8 and 9, the science fair project was not a course requirement. These are the intrepid souls who took on the extra challenge.

Grades 8 & 9

• Dipayan Dhar, 8-1
• Meghna Saha and Olivia Pike, 8-1
• Lakshmi Chedella, 8-3
• Hadi Shaikh, 8-3
• Tanish Bhatt, 8-4
• Farha Farha, 9-1

The 36th annual Student National Leadership Conference will be held September 22 - September 27 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The theme is “From the Roots Up." The conference theme will flow through the keynote speeches, leadership workshops, volunteer opportunities and cultural experiences of the conference.

Any current grade 8 student interested in attending this conference should see Ms. Quann. Parents can email colettequann@nlesd.ca. There are limited spaces so students will be placed on a list in the order the requests are received. You can visit the website https://cslc2020.studentleadership.ca/ for more details.

Pending a decision on whether this conference will go ahead as scheduled, registration has been tentatively moved so as to begin on May 6.

The Horizons Leadership Conference scheduled for May 6 at MDJH has been CANCELLED.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted pictures for the yearbook. Please send any team pictures to colettequann@nlesd.ca. If you are sending from a cell phone, please select actual size to ensure the quality is sufficient for uploading. Team pictures are still needed.

When sending a picture, please include the student grade level and coach's name in case there is more than one team in a grade. Team and group photos cannot be included without your help. Do not assume someone else has sent one in. I would rather have multiple pictures of a group/team than no picture!

These are some ideas for activities you can do at home to practice your French while school is closed. Try doing a different one every day!

1. Look at 10+ different products in your home and compare the French and English labels. Look at the French only and try to guess what each word means.
2. Choose an area in your home and use a dictionary or wordreference.com to learn the vocabulary for every object.
3. Text with a friend in French.
4. Watch a movie you’ve already seen, but in French. Write down words you recognize and figure out what they mean.
5. Teach someone else in your home 10-12 French words you know.
6. Spend 15 to 20 minutes working on DuoLingo.
7. Practice reading simple texts using sites like https://lingua.com/fr/francais/lecture/. Answer the questions to see how well you understood.
8. Explore some news sites in French, like https://www.1jour1actu.com/ .
9. Take a virtual tour of a famous Francophone monument or a Francophone region using sites like Google Arts and Culture. Some ideas are:
   - Eiffel Tower (Paris) - https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/tour-eiffel
   - Musée d’Orsay (Paris) - https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/musee-dorsay-paris
   - Louvre (Paris) - https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne
   - Palace of Versailles (Versailles) - https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/palace-of-versailles
   - France - https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/france/m0f8l9c?categoryId=place
10. Watch children’s TV in French using sites like https://curio.ca/fr/collections/zone-jeunesse-curio-1498/ and https://www.idello.org/en. Keep a list of new words you learn.
11. Choose a hobby or game you enjoy and learn all the words associated with it in French using a dictionary or wordreference.com.
12. Listen to children’s stories read aloud in French using sites like https://www.thefablecottage.com/french and https://www.mondedestitounis.fr/histoire.php, or read along with story videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL11CBE1CF06754974. Find the story in English afterwards - how well did you understand?
13. Design or build something and describe it in French (written or spoken).
14. Look at shopping sites in French like https://www.amazon.ca/?language=fr_CA and imagine what you would buy if you won $500. Using the pictures, try to figure out what new words mean.
15. Listen to 2 popular songs in French and write down words you recognize. What are the songs about?
16. Try cooking or baking something familiar following a recipe written in French from a site like http://qc.allrecipes.ca/.
17. Watch a short tutorial video for kids in French and try to follow the instructions. Here are some to get you started: https://jeunesse.tv5monde.com/activites-pour-enfants/tutoriel-video
18. Try a kids quiz like these ones at https://quiz.tv5monde.com/decouverte/quizz/jeunesse_11 to practice vocabulary. Pick a familiar topic (here’s one about different fruits) and see how many questions you can get right.
19. Practice or grow your vocabulary with games like the ones at https://www.digitaldialects.com/French.htm.

Originally from: https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/alexmackenzie/Home/portalid/2010