NOTRE DAME HITS A HOME RUN WITH GOOGLE CONFAB

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December 6, 2022

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Last month's two-day miGoogle conference was the first one held after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. It also highlighted the "positive culture and climate of NDPMA," said organizers.

The Michigan Google Conference, aka miGoogle, is (typically) an annual event organized and run by Michigan educators, featuring unique applications of Google tools in the classroom – from Chromebooks to Google Drive, Blogger, Maps, and more. Organizers say that miGoogle is not about devices or products; it’s about inspiring educators with the future so that they can "engage and inspire their students to do great things."

The 2022 edition of the hands-on conference, which focuses on integrating the Google for Education in K-12 and higher ed learning environments, was held at Notre Dame Prep on Nov. 10-11 during a two-day period when its students were studying at home via asynchronous-learning. 

According to Eden Konja, Notre Dame's information and academic technology director, the conference was a very welcome addition to the school calendar, especially after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.

"Nearly 200 educators from 41 different school districts and private schools, including many from our school, attended miGoogle 2022," he said. "It's a great opportunity to showcase our wonderful school and facilities for other teachers from around the state. It gets our name out there and makes us look like the leader we actually are and shows how we're able to successfully host a large, prestigious conference."

John Sowash, an academic administrator who also works as an educational technology consultant for Google, organized this year's conference. He too was glad to see miGoogle back on the ed-tech schedule.

"After that two-year pause because of COVID, it was great to see people reconnect at the 9th annual miGoogle conference," he said. "And attendees were excited to be back in-person."

Sowash added that working with the NDPMA community was outstanding. 

"There were so many unique elements to this year's conference that highlighted the positive culture and climate of NDPMA," he said, "from the jazz band performance to NHS students at registration to everyone who helped decorate the school in festive Google colors." 

More than 30 speakers and presenters were on hand for the conference, including Konja, Notre Dame Middle School teacher LeAnne Schmidt, and NDPMA Technology Integration Specialist Melissa York, who played a major role in coordinating the setup and presentations before and during the conference. York also co-presented with Konja on “Find your Pulse Coding with BrainPad,” and presented her own sessions titled “Engage and Participate with Pear Deck” and “Do More with Docs.”   

"We were so excited to have it back this year at our school," said York. "It is a fantastic conference and each year I attend, I always learn something new. It's got great sessions that are geared for educators and people in school IT departments."

York said that this year's MiGoogle featured sessions on strategies, tips, tricks, apps and other tools that teachers can easily implement and adapt for the classroom — from beginning tutorials on creating/sharing Google docs, drawing and creating slides to intermediate and advanced sessions on working with Google add-ons, YouTube, Beyond the Basics and Google Earth.  

"My favorite part of the conference is that we bring together educators from all over the state to connect and learn from one another," York said. "When educators attend this conference, I always hear about the great new ideas they've learned and that they are excited to bring those ideas back to their schools and implement them in the classroom." 

One of those educators who came away from the conference with "new ideas" is Louise Palardy, a STEM specialist and robotics coordinator at NDPMA and a science teacher in the upper school. It was the first MiGoogle Conference for her and she was truly impressed, especially with the main speaker, Jay Gross, an educator and motivational speaker.

"Jay Gross was amazing and his stories were so inspiring," Palardy said. "His message was all about making meaningful connections with the students." 

During the first day of the conference, Palardy participated in an intense all-day training session for certification as a Level-1 Google Certified Educator after which she endured a three-hour online exam. 

"The training that was provided at the conference was excellent and I felt well-prepared for the exam," she said. "I took the exam over the Thanksgiving break and I'm excited now to be a Google Certified Educator!"

Palardy also attended a session on the conference's second day specifically on tips and tricks to make technology work more efficiently in the classroom.

"The presenter was the keynote speaker and he was just as engaging as he was during his keynote," she said. "Even though he was talking about technology, his message was still on making an impact in the students lives — and their parents. He also talked about building connections with co-workers and being part of a true school community."  

Other members of that school community pitched in to ensure the success of the MiGoogle conference, including a number of hardworking student volunteers.

"My role in the conference was to coordinate student helpers and assist with audio-video for all the classrooms to make sure they were running smoothly," said Isaac Konja, a junior at Notre Dame Prep. "Also, along with my brother, Iden, we were in charge of setting up decorations and general accommodations for the many speakers and guests."

Iden Konja said it was a lot of work, but it was fun, too.

"My favorite part of the event was 'Steve the Dinosaur,'" he said. "It was my idea for the MiGoogle conference theme to be the dinosaur from the popular video game. I really loved the way it came together and how funny our classmate Michael Kenny was in the dinosaur suit and how much others loved it."

As the focus turns to next year's miGoogle — no announcement yet on date and location — NDP's Eden Konja is pleased that this year's edition came off without a hitch.

"I'd really like to thank our school community, teachers and administrators for the opportunity to host this conference during a very busy school year," he said. "I also want to thank everyone involved in helping with the setup. A special shoutout goes out to the NDP computer club, the art club, our many student volunteers, parent volunteer Angela Butorac and especially Melissa York."

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, 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.