The MAISA Summer Conference was held in Grand Rapids June 18-20, 2008 . The conference theme was: Creating a World Class Education: An International Perspective.

President-elect Robert Jones, COOR ISD Superintendent, along with colleagues from Region 2 put together a challenging and thought provoking program in keeping with the conference theme.

Keynote presenters included:

• Dr. Dongping Zheng and Dr. Chun Lai, Assistant Professors at the Confucius Institute-MSU and their perspective on “ China ’s Educational System”
• Dr. Paul Conley, from the National University of Ireland , on “The European Union Educational System”
• Bob Purcell, General Motors-Powertrain Vice President of Global Strategic Planning on “Global Competitive Assessment.”

As a part of the conference, MAISA presented its annual awards:

• The “Education Fellows Award” went to Tom White, Executive Director of MSBO
• The “Distinguished Service Award” went to Chris Wigent, Wayne RESA Superintendent and was presented by President William Miller, Washtenaw ISD Superintendent and MAISA President.
• The “Ugly Shoe Award” was presented by SET-SEG’s Chuck Miller to Kevin Magin from Wayne RESA in conjunction with the annual “Fun Run.”