The Utah Education Association convention has been an annual tradition in Utah for over 100 years. However, these days, only one out of every 10 teachers actually attends the statewide convention, according to UEA estimates.

“Out of the roughly 50,000 teachers statewide, we anticipate around 5,000 will attend the convention,” said Mike Kelley, communications and public relations director for the UEA.

Liz Smith, who teaches English and student government at Grantsville High School, will be one of the few teachers from Tooele attending.

“Teachers that attend UEA learn a lot and come away with wonderful ideas to implement in the classroom,” said Liz Smith, who teaches English at Grantsville High School and mentors new teachers. “Every five years, teachers have to re-certify and the workshops at UEA can be used as credit toward recertification.”

Smith said her favorite part of the convention are the displays by vendors.

“They have all sorts of new and neat stuff for teachers and classrooms, and they give out free samples,” Smith said.

Ed Johnson teaches agricultural education at Grantsville High School. Johnson attends UEA because the agriculture teachers hold their association meeting in conjunction with the UEA convention.

“The general sessions are very motivational,” Johnson said. “We then meet and discuss curriculum development for agriculture classes.”

This year, the UEA Convention will break with tradition with a new location.

“For over 100 years the UEA convention has been held in downtown Salt Lake City,” said Kelley. “This year we will break that long-standing tradition by meeting Oct. 16 and 17 at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy.”

Kelley cites better parking and scheduling problems with the Salt Palace as the reasons for relocating the two-day event this year.

The convention got underway today at 8 a.m. with the National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel addressing the group. Van Roekel is a veteran 25-year math teacher from Phoenix, Ariz. Tomorrow the featured speaker will be Alfie Kohn, an author who has appeared on the Oprah Show, who writes and speaks on education and parenting.

Each day features workshops to help teachers improve in the classroom, with titles like “Nipping Bad Behavior in the Bud,” and “Teaching Math the Way the Brain Learns Best.” Other workshops like “More Month than Money: Money Management Techniques for Educators” are for personal development.

“The UEA convention comes at a good time of the year for a break,” said Rick Harrison, Tooele Education Association vice-president.

Parents and some teachers find the break a good time to head for warmer locations, according to Terry Mokrani at Thomas Travel in Tooele.

“The UEA break is one of our busiest times of the year,” Mokrani said. “Travel is down a little this year, but it is still busy. Popular destinations include Disneyland, Mexico and San Diego.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com