First Lady Abby Cox to host Show up for Teachers Conference on Wednesday
Jul 18, 2023, 8:00 PM | Updated: Jul 19, 2023, 2:43 pm
Signage welcomes people to the Show Up for Teachers Conference at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah First Lady Abby Cox will host the second annual Show Up for Teachers Conference on Wednesday. With a focus on the emotional and mental wellbeing of Utah’s teachers, it will bring educators from all across the state.
Cox joined KSL NewsRadio on Tuesday to discuss the event and the importance of supporting teachers.
“So, what it is,” Cox said, “is really an opportunity for us as a community to rally around our teachers and really give them the tools and resources they need to be successful in their own mental health and wellness. So, that they can be the best possible person and teachers for our students.”
KSL NewsRadio’s Boyd Matheson points out that there are a lot of people in the education field who run out of energy before they run out of opportunity. And that has a negative impact on students.
“You’re exactly right,” Cox said. “And we lose about 50 percent of our teachers in the first five years. So, that’s hugely problematic for our children and for us as a state as our future.”
Part of the message Cox hopes to relay is the large amount of support that teachers have.
“What we want to show teachers is that there’s a huge, vast majority (of people) out there that is very supportive of them,” she said. “Is very supportive of the work that they do and want them to succeed.”
Other parts of the teachers conference
Also expected to participate in the conference is Harvard professor Arthur Brooks, who is a researcher in happiness, according to Cox.
“They’re gonna get concrete skills,” Cox said. “How to really improve their own mental health, their own wellness, their happiness indexes.”
The conference will include several breakout sessions including class management, stress management and goal setting.
“I hope they see this menu as crafted by them for them,” Cox said. “… We hope to make teachers feel special.”
The conference will be held at the Mountain American Expo Center in Sandy from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson can be heard on weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
