Written by Kathryn Peterson, Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement
The future of Utah’s workforce isn’t built in a single classroom, but it often starts in one. Every time a student is encouraged to ask questions, test an idea, collaborate with classmates, or solve a real-world problem, they’re developing skills that extend far beyond a science or math lesson. By investing in educators, the Utah STEM Action Center is helping students build the curiosity, confidence, and critical thinking skills they’ll carry into every career and every community.
That’s the vision behind the Utah STEM Action Center’s annual STEM Best Practices Conference, where nearly 500 educators gathered this summer in Price and Ogden to discover innovative teaching strategies, collaborate with peers, and explore hands-on STEM experiences they can bring back to their classrooms. The conference welcomed approximately 100 attendees in Price and 400 in Ogden, offering more than 50 professional learning sessions designed to strengthen STEM education across Utah.
“Our main goal is exactly what the conference title says, sharing STEM best practices,” said Shelby Averett of the Utah STEM Action Center. “We want teachers, educators, and administrators to come together and share what’s working when it comes to teaching STEM in their schools and classrooms.”
The conference brings together preschool through 12th-grade educators, school administrators, higher education partners, industry leaders, government agencies, community organizations, and STEM vendors. By connecting professionals from across Utah, educators gain new ideas, classroom resources, and partnerships that strengthen STEM learning for students statewide.
Unlike traditional professional development, STEM Best Practices is built around participation. Nearly 90 percent of conference sessions include a hands-on component, allowing educators to experience lessons from a student’s perspective before introducing them in their own classrooms. Educators leave with practical activities and classroom-ready resources they can begin using immediately.
What makes that commitment especially meaningful is the dedication of the educators themselves. Many participants choose to spend a day of their summer break attending the conference, not because they receive extra pay, but because they are committed to becoming better educators for their students. While attendees earn relicensure points toward maintaining their teaching licenses, they willingly invest their own time to learn new teaching strategies, discover classroom resources, and collaborate with fellow educators. Many have returned year after year, with some attending for more than six years, demonstrating the lasting value they find in the conference and the community it has created.
That investment in educators directly impacts students.
“We hope educators take these lessons back to their classrooms and use them with students,” Averett said. “Research consistently shows that students learn and retain information better when there’s a hands-on component.”
This year’s conference showcased a variety of classroom-ready lessons, from exploring monarch butterflies through science and art to investigating Great Salt Lake brine shrimp populations and using resources like Red Butte Garden’s Botany Boxes. These experiences encourage students to explore, experiment, and make connections through hands-on learning.
The lessons shared at the conference aren’t just designed to teach science, technology, engineering, and math. They’re designed to help students ask questions, solve problems, collaborate, persevere through challenges, and think critically. At the Utah STEM Action Center, these are known as durable skills, abilities that prepare students not only for college and careers, but for everyday life. Whether a student becomes an engineer, healthcare professional, entrepreneur, educator, artist, or marketer, these skills will serve them throughout their lives.
When educators invest in their own learning, students benefit. New teaching strategies become engaging classroom experiences. Engaged classrooms inspire curious learners. Curious learners develop the confidence and durable skills to solve problems, think creatively, and contribute to their communities.
By empowering educators today, the STEM Best Practices Conference is helping shape the next generation of innovators, leaders, and problem-solvers who will help build Utah’s future.
