Macdonald Drive Junior High
Email: macdonalddrivejrh@nlesd.ca
Website: mdjh.info
Location: 110 Macdonald Drive, St. John's, NL, Canada
Phone: 709-753-8240
X/Twitter: @mdjh
REAP Final Assembly
The Grade 9 classes who participated in the REAP Video Creation Project travelled to Memorial University for a final assembly for the project. Clips of the videos were shown, awards were presented, and there was a panel discussion with local film and video professionals. Thank you to Dr. Burke and her team at Memorial University for arranging this enriching project for our students!
MDJH Tour of “Hudson & Rex” Studio
A great big Thank You! to Lisa Porter of Pope Productions for giving a guided tour of the Hudson & Rex sound stage. A number of our Grade 9 students who have been active in the REAP film and video program this year were invited on this special field trip. Thanks also to Dr. Anne Burke and Ishika Kanda of Memorial University for arranging and organizing the trip.
MDJH at DramaFest
MDJH is proud to recognize another successful year participating in the annual DramaFest! We had a large cast and crew who made every effort to put off an incredible production of Drop Dead, Juliet! Our cast and crew took home awards for Best Costumes, Best Properties (Props), and our very own Lydia Davis received an award for Best Actress!
A huge shoutout and thank you to all of the Drop Dead Juliet! cast and crew:
Lydia Davis, Hanna Lambert, Emily Murray, Stella Wilkins, Lee Butt, Aline Cook, Alex McGrath, Sophie Gulliford, Olive Hollahan, Brianna Rockwood, Lila Winter, Rianna Joy, Reese Dalton, Lily Hong, Mackenna Jesso, Grace Laffin, Grace Butler, Kyle Noseworthy, Ashley Drodge, Charlotte Cook, Bridgette Connolly, Kelly MacLellan, Kendra King, Lauren Woodland (crew), Bri Little (crew), Lilah Newhook (crew), Bee Farquharson (crew), Hailey Whelan (crew), ZsaZsa Bajzak (crew), Echo Kane (crew), Donna Mills (teacher sponsor), Jacklyn Ghaney (teacher sponsor), Quinten Taylor (teacher sponsor), Kerryanne O’Brien (teacher helper), Alanna Penney (art teacher support).
Volunteer Week 2024 – Thank you to our Kids Eat Smart Club Volunteers
During National Volunteer Week, we celebrate our Volunteers’ impact on our Kids Eat Smart Clubs, who ensure access to breakfast at no cost to children or their families. Every school day, the sharing of your time, skills, and empathy is vital to the well-being of our school age children and youth. Each contribution you make is more important now than ever. Each school day, in every city, town, bay and cove throughout Newfoundland and Labrador – Every Moment Matters.
Every Breakfast. Every Child. Every School Day — you bring heart to our school communities. For this, we thank you.
Best Buddies
The MDJH Best Buddies chapter is going as strong as ever, with new students joining all the time! For our get-together in March, we had an Easter Egg hunt. It was super fun and there was a lot of chocolate found by our Buddies! For the April get together, we had a pizza party! Our last get together will be in May, and we will decide on our final activity, to end the year, at our next meeting. Once again, a huge thank you to the amazing group of students who take part in this program! Your kindness and generosity is very much appreciated!
Europe at Easter Break 2025
Please see the attached brochure regarding next year's European tour during Easter break, 2025. This tour is for current grade 8 students ONLY (grade 9 at the time of the tour). There will be a meeting on Wednesday, May 8, at 7pm in the library to discuss enrolment and tour details.
Farewell Carnival
This year, MDJH will be hosting its Carnival on May 23, 2024, from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Both the Student Council and School Council have endorsed this event. All grade 9 students are invited to attend, as it will be one of the last times to come together as the senior class of MDJH. The City of St. John’s Youth and Recreation Group will be helping to organize the occasion. Some of the events that have been planned include:
● Bazooka Ball Zombie shootout
● Large Games
● Red Planet Adventure
● Clue Orienteering
● BBQ
● Memorial Banner
● Wii Sports & Just Dance
● Karaoke
● Smoothies & Candy Shop
● Photo Booth
● Video Games Room
● Thrill Hill 3 Lane Slide
● Escape Room
As each student completes an event, their card will be hole-punched and their names will be entered for a prize. To keep costs at a minimum, we will be looking for the donation of small $10 gift card prizes. If you would like to donate a card, feel free to drop it off at the office. Items that have been donated have included: gift certificates, movie passes, basketballs, caps, etc.
The menu for the evening will include: barbecue hot dogs, popcorn, and fruit smoothies. We are also looking for mini cupcakes to be donated for the night of the event.
Dress for this event is casual: shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. To help offset the costs, we are asking that each student pay $20.00 through their RYCOR account.
If there are any concerns, please let the office know.
Baby Pictures: Grade 9 Farewell Carnival
As a part of our Grade 9 Leaving celebrations, we are creating a slideshow featuring our grade 9 students to highlight their growth over the years. The presentation will include each student's grade 9 school pictures (we already have these) alongside a photograph of them as a baby, toddler, or during their early school years. Please select one picture only to email to laurenandrews@nlesd.ca and be sure to include the name of your child.
“The Interview”!
Congratulations to the cast and crew of the short film, “The Interview”! Filmed as part of the Grade 9 REAP Project, it was submitted to the Pope Youth Film Festival 2024. During the award ceremony last week, the film was awarded “Best Cinematography”.
Congratulations to all our students, current and former, who submitted films!
Rotary Festival - Concert Choir
In April, the MDJH Concert Choir participated in the Rotary Music Festival, delivering an impressive performance that left a lasting impression on the adjudicators and attendees. The choir showcased their talents with a diverse and challenging repertoire, demonstrating skill and dedication.
Their performance garnered praise from the festival's clinicians, who described them as having "focus and attention to detail that is remarkable at such a young age." The choir's performance exemplified both a desire for musical sophistication and a dedication to excellence.
Congratulations to the MDJH Concert Choir for their outstanding achievements at the Rotary Music Festival, a testament to their talent, hard work, and passion for music.
Click the link to hear their performance of 'Happy Face Medley', one of three pieces performed at the festival.
Rotary Festival - Jazz Ensemble
Our Jazz Ensemble performed at the Rotary Festival. Here are the recordings of our 3 tunes.
Killer Joe - Soloists Nathan Wilson (tenor sax) and Kylynn Deboer (trumpet)
Little Sunflower - Soloists Millie Janes (piano), Beatrix Farquharson (clarinet), Alex Evermann (trombone), Lauren Woodland (flute)
Reboot - Soloisits Amy Lodge (electric guitar), Tim Bassler (alto sax), Leo Shinkle (bari sax).
