UEA Welcomes Featured Speaker Alfie Kohn

Education and parenting author, Alfie Kohn, will be the featured speaker at the UEA Convention on Friday, October 17, 2008, beginning at 10 a.m. The 2008 UEA convention will be at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education and parenting. Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as, "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades and test scores."

Spotlight on Celeste Gardner OEA Executive Board

OEA would like to welcome the newest member of our Executive Board, Celeste Gardner, special education teacher at Hillcrest Elementary. Celeste brings association leadership experience and we are excited to have her join our board.

OHS Future Educators and WSU Chapter of FEA Read for the Record

On Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, the OHS chapter of the Future Educators Association will be assisting the nation wide effort to break the Guiness Book of World Records. Our local goal is to read to 1500 children that day. The local chapter of the UEA purchased the books for us to read to the children. We will be reading at Polk Elementary, Horace Mann, Discovery Playhouse Daycare, Headstart and other preschool and daycares in Ogden. Jumpstart's Read for the Record wants to bring national attention to early education programs and the need for books in the homes of our children. This year we will be reading Corduroy from Penguin Young Readers.

Read for the Record

Suzy Davis, FEA advisor at Ogden High, has organized a "Read for the Record" event for October 2. Students will be reading the book "Corduroy" to hopefully 1000 children as part of the Future Educators Association worldwide event to bread the Guiness Book of Record. We purchased 20 books and helped with the event through the use of a NEA grant.

Membership Campaign in Full Swing

Ogden hired almost 120 new teachers and Weber has hired over 180 new teachers this year. We had 40 or 50 members retire last year and many others leave the district. We have signed up over 60 new members in Ogden and over 70 new members in Weber. Each one of you can help say positive things about membership to the new teachers. Thanks for your help in maintaining our strong membership.

Special Session of Utah State Legislature Meets Today

A special session of the Utah State Legislature is meeting today and Friday, Sept. 26 to hammer out some budget cuts because of the revenue shortfall of $272 million reported this month. Legislative leaders have promised to "hold harmless" public education, but cuts in human services and higher ed could be tough.

OEA Spotlight on Sherrie Dame

Sherrie Dame is a great fifth grade teacher at Polk Elementary. She also serves on the OEA Executive Board, Negotiations Team and Membership Committee. Sherrie is an expert on New York City since her boy lives there and is involved in the theatre business. She can tell you where the best places to see and stay. We love Sherrie for her willingness to stand up for the association and support the teaching profession.