- Utah first lady Abby Cox hosted the annual Show Up for Teachers Conference.
- Thousands of Utah educators gathered Thursday to share methods for resolving conflict, engaging students, managing stress and other issues facing K-12 teachers.
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox warns of the dual dangers of cellphones and AI in the classroom.
Parent-teacher conferences are officially part of Utah first lady Abby Cox’s past.
Her youngest child recently wrapped up the 12th grade. So for the first time in some two decades, Cox and her husband — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox — no longer have a son or daughter attending a Utah public K-12 school.
“This year, my baby graduated from high school,” said Abby Cox to cheers during the opening session at Thursday’s fourth edition of the Show Up for Teachers Conference.
Each of the Cox kids, she said, stepped into the post-high school world well-equipped and well-educated because of “teachers, educators, counselors, principals and administrators that believed in each one of them — and for that, I am incredibly grateful.”
But even without children in K-12 schools, the first lady remains tightly linked — professionally and emotionally — to Utah’s educators through her Show Up initiative that presents the annual conference to support the emotional and mental well-being of Utah educators.
Thursday’s event drew thousands of educators from across the state to Sandy’s Mountain America Exposition Center.
The daylong conference included speakers and breakout sessions addressing evolving topics facing today’s Utah teachers such as stress management, conflict resolution, classroom engagement, nutrition and sleep and managing finances.
Gov. Cox: Cellphones, AI pose dual dangers to education
The first lady’s husband, Gov. Cox, spoke Thursday at the conference’s “Educator Advocate” breakfast.
Friday is the governor’s 50th birthday — and he plans to celebrate becoming a quinquagenarian by catching a screening of the new “Superman” flick with his daughter.
In his remarks, Cox recalled being a first grader in “Mrs. Day’s class” and participating in a classroom reading competition. Winners were awarded a seat in a school screening of Christopher Reeve’s “Superman.”
“That was the most exciting thing that had ever happened in my entire life,’ he said, laughing.
That long-ago “Superman” reading competition made Spencer Cox a lifelong reader.
“I am so incredibly lucky that Mrs. Day cared that much about us and figured out a way to tap into something that I care deeply about,” he said. “And because of her, I love to read. I still read every day, every morning and every night. I read because of Mrs. Day.”
The governor saluted today’s Utah educators who are having a “Mrs. Day-like influence” on their own students.
“Thank you,” he said, “for what you’re doing.”
Cox assured his audience that they have a friend in his wife, Abby Cox. “You need to know that the first lady of our state has never once stopped fighting for you. She cares deeply about you.”
The governor again sounded the alarms over the proliferation of smartphones in K-12 classrooms.
Such technology, he said, has revolutionized the world — but not for the better.
”It has been incredibly destructive,” he said. “It is tearing us apart … and it is especially damaging to our kids — and we have made a terrible mistake in allowing these devices and these apps into our classrooms.”
Not even the most skilled teachers can win the battle for a student’s attention if he or she has easy classroom access to a cellphone.
Cox praised schools and districts that are prohibiting cellphones in class. “Test scores go up — behavioral problems go down.”
He also warned of developing danger as AI becomes more widely utilized in the lives and classrooms of students. “Artificial intelligence is dumber than it will ever be right now — and it’s smarter than most of us right now,” he said.
Fundamentals that have long defined K-12 education — reading, writing and even grading papers — are being threatened by the emerging technology, he added.
“We no longer have to do the stuff that makes us human ... thinking. We no longer have to think anymore, and I think that is incredibly dangerous for all of us.”
Cox pleaded with educators to have “eyes wide open” as students continue to move into an AI-driven world.
“Challenge them,” he said, “They’re better and more capable than we believe and give them credit for.”
The governor concluded his remarks by saying that the country’s founders knew that the American experiment would only be realized by an educated citizenry that reasons and thinks.
Social media and AI, he observed, have “made us dumber.”
“If this experiment is going to continue in the next 250 years, we’re going to need people who can reason and who can spend every day bettering themselves … giving back and conversing one with another and challenging each other without hating each other.
“That’s what we need more than ever — and it has to start in our schools.”
Helping Utah students capture potential
In her remarks at the Thursday breakfast, Sheri Dew, the executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corporation, shared defining memories of a school basketball coach who challenged her to match her talent with an equal measure of hard work.
Young Sheri didn’t always practice as hard as she could. Her coach knew it — and called her out on it when the two were apart from the other players.
Dew remembered not wanting to disappoint a coach who wanted her to realize her potential. She decided to work harder than all the other players — and, most importantly, demand more from herself.
“It changed inside of me how much effort I was going to give,” she said.
Dew applauded today’s Utah educators who are also changing lives. “What’s better than helping someone live up to their potential?”, she asked.
“That’s what each of us are in a position to do. Thank you for all you do.
“May we each think about ways we can do a good work to help raise the next generation — so they can reach their potential.”
Molly Hart, the recently appointed state school superintendent of public instruction, said the role of education advocates and policymakers is to fuel the passion driving teachers.
“It’s our job to make policies and to make rules and to do all the things we do in our roles — but really, our job is to keep that spark alive, because that is the essence of teaching.”
Hart said she is committed to allowing teachers’ voices and concerns to be heard and addressed.
“Join me in listening and learning from the very teachers that educate each one of our children,” she said. “Education is truly the path to liberty and freedom. Truth is the only real path to liberty and freedom — and because of this, we have an enormous responsibility to work together.”
Talking education with Utah’s first lady
First lady Cox took a few minutes away from Thursday’s conference to talk teaching with the Deseret News.
There are several worthwhile initiatives she could promote, but she prioritizes education and Utah’s teachers.
“I come from a long line of educators,” she said. “My grandmother was an educator. My mom was an educator. I was a special education teacher. To me, this is upstream of everything.”
She noted the symbiotic relationship shared by Utah’s education and Utah’s economy.
“It’s important for both of us — the governor and myself — to prioritize education and our teachers.”
Resiliency was an anchoring theme of Thursday’s Show Up for Teachers Conference.
Cox said that today’s educators are dealing with issues she could not have imagined when she was beginning her own teaching career. Mental health challenges, food insecurity and distracting technologies are realities for many students.
“Teachers are dealing with so much right now — and we need them to know that we have their back, that we know of their struggles and that we have confidence in their abilities. … We know they’re resilient. We just want to help them to recognize how resilient they are through the theme of this conference.”
Utah’s first lady didn’t pause when asked what education issue troubles her most: cellphones in classrooms.
A barrage of notifications and apps are drawing students away from learning and developing — and it’s frustrating their teachers.
“I would love to see phones out of the classroom — not only for that instruction time, but also for (students’) socialization,” she said.
“We have kids that are in the workforce that don’t know how to have conversations. They don’t know how to communicate. They don’t know how to interact in a positive way.”
Removing cellphones from schools — from bell to bell — won’t solve all of education’s problems, she added. But it’s a good place to start.
When asked how Utah parents and guardians can support teachers, Cox said it begins by moms and dads simply being involved. “Go into the classroom. … Observe, and then help.”
The first lady said her understanding and collaborations with her own children’ s teachers were enhanced by simply connecting.
“Just having a conversation with that teacher in a noncombative way helped me learn to figure out how we can be a team together.”