Parent Newsletter
Macdonald Drive Junior High, February 2019
Macdonald Drive Junior High
Email: mdjh@nlesd.ca
Website: mdjh.info
Location: 110 Macdonald Drive, St. John's, NL, Canada
Phone: 709-753-8240
Twitter: @mdjh
Dates to Remember
- February 11 to 15 - Teacher Appreciation Week
- February 12, 7:00pm - Grade 9 Parent Meeting at Gonzaga
- February 15 - Grade 9 Course Selection Sheet Deadline
- February 18 - Winter Break - Holiday
- February 25 to March 1 - Spirit Week
- February 27 - Pink Shirt and Cupcake Day
- March 1 - Garry Summers Hypnotist Show
- March 22 - Term 2 Reports
- March 28 - Parent Teacher Interviews
MDJH Steps up to Support the Community Food Sharing Association
On February 1, Macdonald Drive Junior High sent out a call to our school community for food donations in support of the Community Food Sharing Association. As usual, our amazing school community stepped up! We delivered six grocery carts full of food to Colemans' drop off point. Thank you MDJH community for showing how much you care!
High School Course Selection Information
Representatives from Gonzaga Regional High School attended MDJH to give our Grade 9 students a session on course selection for High School. If you would like to see the presentation that was shown to students, please click here.
The course selection sheet that students took away has to be returned to their homeroom teachers no later than Friday, February 15th. If you need a new copy of the course selection form, please click here.
As well, there is a booklet available for parents and students to help them plan for their high school courses. If you would like to view a copy of this booklet, please click here.
Spelling Bee Congratulations
The competition was extremely fierce this year, and two students emerged as the MDJH Spelling Bee winners for 2019! Maria Burton in first place, and Tanish Bhatt in second place. They will go on to compete in the 2019 Telegram Spelling Bee at Holy Heart Theatre on February 23.
Bell Let's Talk Day
The Bell Let's Talk day was a great success at Macdonald Drive Junior High this year! We had a very special breakfast where students came down to the cafeteria during periods one and two.
There, they ate a nutritious breakfast and joined in a conversation about mental health by completing speech balloons. On the speech balloons, students wrote about how they thought they could help end stigma related to mental illness. They also spread positive messages related to taking care of your mental health. These speech balloons were then posted in our cafeteria.
We would like to thank the amazing parents, teachers and student volunteers who made this day a very special one for our school community.
Calling All Cupcake Makers
On Wednesday, February 27, we have our annual Pink Shirt Day. This day is celebrated every year with a strong message to be kind to one another and to celebrate diversity. We are asking parents/guardians to bake pink cupcakes as we want to give one to each student in our building on that day.
If you are able to bake cupcakes, please send an email to Christina Watton (christinawatton@nlesd.ca) and indicate the number of cupcakes you can provide (please keep in mind we are a nut and tree nut free school). You can title the email "Pink Day cupcakes". All cupcakes would have to be delivered by 8am on Wednesday, February 27.
Hypnotist Show – Friday, March 1
As part of Spirit Week, we are happy to announce the return of professional hypnotist Gary Summers. This show will take place on Friday, March 1. We are asking all students to bring in $4.00 to help cover the cost of this show, as all students are expected to attend.
Grade 9 students can participate in the show! If you are in Grade 9 and want to try to be hypnotized, please return your permission form to Mme. Quann or Mme. Sauve as soon as possible. Students who do not return their form cannot participate, but can join the audience to watch the fun. If you need to download a new permission form, please click here.
Science Fair Judges Wanted!
WANTED! SCIENCE FAIR JUDGES
The MDJH School Science Fair will be held on Thursday, March 14, 1:00-5:30 pm.
Science students are getting to work, creatively designing and performing experiments. Many of them will be proudly showing off their work at our fair. It will be, a big event with a high degree of community involvement from parents and other scientists. We are proud of our high rate of student participation!
If you have a science background and want to share in the excitement of doing and talking science with young people, we want you! Judges visit individual projects and engage the students in conversation about their work, giving each participant the benefit of a supportive, enthusiastic, and thoughtful audience for their learning. Then the judges help select the Science Fair winners, who will have the option of going on to the Regional Science Fair or other event depending on their type of project.
If you are able to participate, please contact me at nathaliebrunet@nlesd.ca
If you have a child in our school, you will be asked to judge a different grade.
If you know someone else who would like to be involved, please forward this information.
Children's WISH
Our WISH Venture has started! WE are raising funds through various activities here within our school. WE have a poster in front of our office outlining the amount of funds raised and depending on the amount, the activity associated with it. For example, our teachers are participating by allowing students to dye their hair, pie them, dress them up, etc. It's a bit of fun while raising funds for a very worthwhile cause: Children's WISH! We are hoping to grant 1 to 2 wishes before the end of the year!
Request for Feedback - Family Survey 2018-19
School Development Surveys are conducted annually to gather feedback from students, staff, and parents/guardians to inform the school development process. The survey results will be provided to your child’s school and used with other data to identify the school’s strengths and challenges. Your child’s school will then create and implement a plan to build on successes and address areas of challenge.
The survey is anonymous, which means that we cannot connect your survey responses to you. We encourage everyone to participate so that we have the most accurate representation of family perceptions at your school.
The Family Survey will be available on February 11, 2019. Please complete the survey by March 15, 2019 by clicking here to access the survey. If you do not have internet access, you may contact your school to arrange access to a school computer or mobile device for survey completion.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the school development surveys, please contact:
- Christie Warren at 709-729-5649 or christiewarren@gov.nl.ca or
- Jennifer Smith at 709-729-5588 or jenniferfsmith@gov.nl.ca or
- Patricia Emberley at 709-729-6850 or patriciaemberley@gov.nl.ca
Thank you for your participation and for being a valued member of your school community.
MDJH Sports
Grade 7 Girls Volleyball
Grade 9 Boys Volleyball Team
Grade 7 Girls Volleyball
Won Gold Tier 1 at the Burger King classic tournament.
Volleyball Provincials
Girls 7A Basketball
Grade 9 Boys Volleyball
Grade 8 Boys Basketball
Girls Grade 7 Basketball Silver
Boys 7A Basketball Gold
Student Council News
Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week is February 11-15. We would like to ask our school community to show appreciation for the staff of MDJH by providing treats at recess and lunch.
As in past years, we would like to have grade levels help out on different days:
Monday, February 11 - Grade 7
Tuesday, February 12 - Grade 8
Wednesday, February 13 - Grade 9. If you are able to send along a treat, please email colettequann@nlesd.ca or jodisauve@nlesd.ca. All treats must be peanut and cinnamon free.
Bake Sale Fundraiser for WISH
Student Council will be having a bake sale on Thursday, February 14. All proceeds will go to our WISH campaign. Please bring change and support MDJH in granting a child’s wish.
Spirit Week February 25 - March 1
Theme days:
Monday: Pyjama Day
Tuesday: Twin/ Multiple Day
Wednesday: PINK day
Thursday: Pride Day
Friday: Jersey Day
There will also be lunchtime activities organized for students. Details will be announced during our daily announcements.
Parent / Student Information Meeting for the Canadian Student Leadership Conference
There will be an information session for students and parents on Wednesday, February13, at 6:30 in Room 220. The next national leadership conference will be September 24 - September 29, 2019 in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The theme is Empowering Inner Resources. 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 next year should see Ms. Quann.
Parents please email colettequann@nlesd.ca to express a desire to have your child attend this conference. There are limited spaces so students will be placed on a list in order of email received with an expression of interest.
You can visit the website https://cslc2019.studentleadership.ca/ for more details. Registration opens in March. All students who have expressed an interest will be registered but may be put on a waitlist until registration ends and the number of student delegates for each province is allotted.
Yearbooks
There are several 2017-2018 yearbooks available for purchase.The cost is $20. Please contact colettequann@nlesd.ca if you wish to purchase a yearbook from last year. You can also preorder next year’s yearbook. Forms are available at the office and from Ms. Quann.
Yearbook pictures
Thank you to everyone who has submitted pictures for the yearbook. Please send any team pictures to colettequann@nlesd.ca. If sending from a cell phone, please select actual size to ensure the quality is good for uploading to the yearbook.
Celebrating student's success
We want to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of the students of MDJH. We have a wall of celebration where we will place a certificate of acknowledgement highlighting participation and success in a variety of activities. We want to know if your child has participated in any plays, musicals, has been on a team that has won some title, or has been recognized in any individual competition. We need your help with this. Please let us know so we can proudly display this on our wall. Please email colettequann@nlesd.ca with Celebrate YOUR CHILD’S NAME in the subject line.
Photography club
Photography club meets every second Wednesday from 3-4:30. Each month there is a photo contest. Club members are reminded to please submit their photos to twragg@hotmail.com
Kids Eat Smart February Recipes
Heart Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1 cantaloupe
- 1 honeydew
- 1⁄2 watermelon
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp frozen orange juice (concentrated) thawed
- 1 tsp honey
- Popsicle sticks
- Tooth picks
- Heart-shaped cookie cutter
Directions
Cut fruit into 1-inch thick slices. Using the cookie cutter, cut hearts from the melon slices. Poke a hole in the bottom of each heart using a tooth pick. Remove the toothpick and insert the popsicle stick. 3 hearts per popsicle stick. Mix yogurt, juice and honey well. Serve with the hearts for dipping.
Adapted from: https://www.parents.com/recipe/desserts/heart-kabobs/
Fresh Fruit Pop
Ingredients
- Banana
- Strawberries
- Yogurt
- Nut free granola
- Thin sticks
Directions
Slice banana into two-inch chunks. Insert sticks into banana and strawberries. Dip into yogurt then granola. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Adapted from: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/327003622923747333/
Macdonald Drive Junior High
Email: mdjh@nlesd.ca
Website: mdjh.info
Location: 110 Macdonald Drive, St. John's, NL, Canada
Phone: 709-753-8240
Twitter: @mdjh