Google Apps Script Projects
I use Google Apps Script to automate repetitive tasks, connect Google Workspace applications, and create practical tools that make everyday work more efficient. I particularly enjoy finding affordable, sustainable solutions for schools and nonprofit organizations using technology they already have. Full disclosure: I do not know how to write scripts, but I do know how to prompt ChatGPT to write a script and how to troubleshoot it until it does what I want (persistence is both my greatest strength and also my greatest weakness). Some of my students may be a little disgusted if they happen to find this page and read it (the odds are low, but it happens every 3โ4 years), so for their sake, I will say: Garbage in, garbage out. If you write a good prompt and thoughtfully revise the results, you can create something useful. If you write a terrible prompt without thinking through what you want, how it should work, and how it should look, you get unusable garbage.
My goal is to create practical, affordable systems that solve real problems without creating unnecessary complexity. I prioritize clear organization, accessibility, and maintainability so that these tools can continue serving their organizations even when the people responsible for them change. Ultimately, the best automation is one that works reliably in the background, giving people more time to focus on the things that matter.
Fort Calhoun Presbyterian Church (FCPC)
I developed Google Forms and Apps Script solutions that allow visitors to contact the church, submit prayer requests, and connect with the congregation without requiring staff and volunteer email addresses to be publicly displayed on the website.
When someone submits a form, an Apps Script automatically emails the submission contents to the appropriate person responsible for responding. The email includes the submitter's address in the Reply-To field, allowing the recipient to respond directly without having to retrieve contact information from the form responses.
This approach reduces the church's vulnerability to email harvesting, spam, and phishing attempts while maintaining accessible, convenient communication channels. It also eliminates the need for staff and volunteers to monitor form submissions manually, using tools already available through the church's Google Workspace environment.
Dynamic Homepage Event Cards
I developed a Google Apps Script solution that automatically generates and updates event cards on the church's homepage, making it easier to keep visitors informed about upcoming activities without requiring frequent manual website edits.
Rather than creating and updating individual event announcements directly on the website, event information is maintained in a Google Sheet. The script uses that information to populate the homepage event cards, helping ensure that visitors see current, relevant information while reducing the amount of time required to maintain the site. Once an event has passed, the script automatically removes its card from the homepage, ensuring that visitors see only current and upcoming events.
This approach is particularly valuable for a volunteer-run organization, where responsibility for maintaining the website may change over time (and where the person running the website is probably also doing it on the side in addition to a full-time job and other volunteer roles that she collects like hobbies). By separating event management from website design, the system allows people to keep information current without needing to understand how the website is built or how the underlying script works. The result is a more sustainable website maintenance process that reduces repetitive work, minimizes the likelihood of outdated information remaining on the homepage, and makes it easier for volunteers to share responsibility for keeping the congregation informed.
Nebraska Languages Association (NEBLA)
Board Meeting Schedule & Minutes Archive
I developed a Google Apps Script solution, currently demonstrated on my personal website, that automatically displays upcoming board meetings and archived meeting minutes on the Nebraska Languages Association (NEBLA) website. The system pulls meeting dates and details directly from Google Calendar and retrieves meeting minutes from organized Google Drive folders. It dynamically identifies the next scheduled board meeting and displays past meeting minutes in an archive organized by year.
The primary advantage is that website maintenance is integrated into the organization's existing workflows. Officers continue adding meetings to Google Calendar and saving minutes in the appropriate Google Drive folders, just as they normally would. The script retrieves that information and updates the website automatically, eliminating the need to enter the same information in multiple places.
This approach reduces administrative work, helps prevent outdated or inconsistent information, and makes important organizational records easier for members to access. It also supports continuity as leadership changes: incoming officers can maintain the website simply by following established calendar and file-management procedures, without needing to edit the website or understand the underlying code.