LEGISLATION BY VIRTUE OF ZOOM

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December 3, 2020

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Middle schoolers participated once again in a state youth in government conference even though the capitol building in Lansing was off limits due to the pandemic; Kafarski earns top award.  

It looked different than past conferences, but the YMCA Michigan Youth in Government program, which provides middle school and high school students with the opportunity to become acting state legislators, lobbyists and lawyers, held its middle school conference the weekend of Nov. 20. 

Middle schoolers from across the state, including those from Notre Dame, were not able to conduct sessions at the state capitol in Lansing as per usual due to COVID-19 restrictions. Instead the kids participated via Zoom, and still managed to get a lot done.

"The proceedings lasted for four days," said Sehaj Gill, an eighth grader at Notre Dame Middle School. "Doing everything virtually presented a unique set of challenges for everyone involved. For several students around the state, there was less-than-optimum participation due to the lack of familiarity with the tools and with the norms of virtual interaction."

Gill said the occasional latency that led to a response lag contributed at times to less than lively interactions. She noted that as a result, students had to be patient by allowing others to complete their thoughts before interjecting. 

"Successful virtual interaction required patience, diligence and planning," added Gill, who apparently took her own advice to heart as she was nominated to the prestigious Governor's Cabinet and also earned Outstanding Delegate honors at the event.

Eight students from NDMS participated in this year's conference, which for Eric Davis (8th), Matthew Kafarski (8th), Brooklyn Haddad (8th), Lucas DiGrande (7th), Meetali Mohindra (8th) and Siddharth Mohindra (8th) meant spending a good portion of their weekend in Notre Dame's library. Sehaj Gill (8th) and Lucas Marchese (7th) "Zoomed" in from home.

Kafarski, currently an eighth grader, first decided to participate in MYIG last year. He said that despite the virtual setting this year, he thought this year was a blast. He served as a member of the state legislature and went on to win the Brent Veysey Outstanding Statesman Award, which goes to the top performer of the conference each year.

"Legislature was incredibly fun and I mostly enjoyed the committee groups where we amended bills to make them better," he said. "Throughout the two days of legislature, I participated fully in the activities and made sure to speak my mind. The 'cherry on top' was me getting the prize, which I greatly appreciated, but the best part was the debating. However, I am very thankful for getting the award and will definitely be continuing MYIG in the future." 

According to LeAnne Schmidt, who teaches eighth-grade U.S. History and seventh-grade writing and manages all debate and forensic activities at NDPMA, it has been an interesting season of MYIG.

"But I'm very pleased with everything the kids have accomplished during the virtual conference, as I know it took a lot of prepping in the months prior, as well as countless hours on Zoom," Schmidt said. 

She noted that dove and elk hunting regulations, taxing plastic bags, seat belts in school buses, racial bias training for police officers, social media etiquette skills for teens and banning kill shelters were among the topics debated during the four-day event. 

Eighth-grader Gill said that besides debating such important topics, MYIG provides an excellent opportunity for middle and high schoolers to engage with and understand the government. 

"I had the opportunity to think about how the bills we debate affected various members of society," she said. "The docket of bills was extensive and covered a lot of topics so we had to manage our time to ensure that all bills got adequate debate. This ensured fair evaluation of the bills for the Governor's consideration."

Gill also said that if it wasn't for Schmidt, she may not have been a participant at all. 

"Ms. Schmidt, our delegation's advisor, was the one who encouraged me to join the program this year in the first place," she said. "She provided us with invaluable guidance in writing and presenting our bills and she provided suggestions and tips to help us improve the quality of our bills. I always knew we had an advisor who was setting us up for success." 

She also said that she plans to continue with MYIG in high school. 

"There are even more opportunities and roles available to high school students and I look forward to continuing a very enriching experience."

Check out a few videos from this MYIG Conference.

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.

About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.