2025 Utah Rural Schools Conference: Full Schedule

Only Purchase One Ticket for Each Individual Attendee
Full URSA 2025 Session Schedule will be published here NO LATER than June 1. Please check back soon!

arrow_back View All Dates

9:45am MDT

Unlock Creativity in Your Classroom with Adobe Express

Friday July 11, 2025 9:45am - 10:45am MDT

Room #234

Are you ready to bring learning to life in your upper elementary classroom? Join our engaging, hands-on presentation on Adobe Express and discover how easy it is to create stunning visuals, videos, and interactive projects—no design experience needed!
What You’ll Learn:
How to craft eye-catching lesson materials in minutes
Fun, student-friendly projects like digital book reports & science posters
Time-saving templates that make teaching easier & more exciting
Best practices for seamless classroom integration
Why Attend?
Boost student engagement & creativity
Gain practical, ready-to-use classroom tools
Walk away with your own Adobe Express masterpiece!
Don’t miss out! Join us and turn your classroom into a hub of creativity & innovation!

Participants MUST HAVE one of the following platforms/devices in order to participate in this session: Must have Laptop, Mac or Tablet

Participants MAY FIND IT USEFUL to have one or more of the following platforms/devices during this session: Mac Laptop, Windows Laptop, Chromebook

Speakers

Lisa Perry

Educator/Tech Coach, Terra Academy

I am a passionate 5th-grade educator with 13 years of teaching experience, All of those in rural Utah. I strongly advocate for literacy, math, and technology, using hands-on projects, Thinking Classroom strategies, and digital tools like Adobe Express to engage my students and build... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 9:45am - 10:45am MDT
Room #234 1750 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060

1 hour BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Hands-On-Activities, Beginner - limited to no experience; no prerequisite skills required., Intermediate - basic core competency; some prerequisite skills required.

Learning Strand or Track Educational Technology
Subject Area Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, STEM / STEAM
Audience Teachers, Library Media Specialists, District / School Administrators, EdTech Coach/Digital Teaching & Learning Specialists, Instructional Coaches
Grade Level 3 - 4, 5 - 6

9:45am MDT

Elevating Your Literacy Instruction with the Arts

Friday July 11, 2025 9:45am - 12:00pm MDT

Room #132

How can you get more engagement in your reading lessons? Arts Integration! A visual art specialist and a music specialist will model some fun, engaging ways to enhance any literacy lessons with the arts. They will share tips, tricks, and strategies that any teacher can use to be successful in breathing more excitement into their classroom!

Participants MUST HAVE one of the following platforms/devices in order to participate in this session: Not Applicable

Participants MAY FIND IT USEFUL to have one or more of the following platforms/devices during this session: Not Applicable

Speakers

Elizabeth Brown

Art Coach, NUES - Northern Utah Educational Services

Liz Brown was the 2024 UAEA Art Teacher of the year for Utah. She is passionate about arts integration and children getting the opportunity to create. She has worked in education for more than 20 years, as an elementary classroom teacher, with experience in kindergarten through 6th... Read More →

Amy Hickenlooper

BTS Music Specialist, Early Light Academy

Friday July 11, 2025 9:45am - 12:00pm MDT
Room #132 1750 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060

2 hour In-Depth exploration workshop, Beginner - limited to no experience; no prerequisite skills required.

Learning Strand or Track Utah Core Curriculum
Subject Area Language Arts, Performing Arts / Visual Arts, Music
Audience Teachers, Library Media Specialists, Instructional Coaches, Curriculum Specialists
Grade Level PK - 2, 3 - 4, 5 - 6, Elementary - grades K - 6

11:00am MDT

Pedagogy First: Guiding Principles for Using AI to Empower Students

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Lecture Hall

Learn how to utilize AI in your classroom in ways that go beyond hype and truly foster deep learning. In this session, we’ll briefly review the underlying mechanics of large language models before proposing four guiding principles to help you implement AI strategically in your classroom: task alignment, cognitive awareness, digital literacy, and human-centeredness. Using these principles as a lens, we’ll workshop classroom scenarios and discuss the ways artificial intelligence can support and empower our students when implemented strategically.

NOTE: This session repeats on Thursday, July 10at 9:45 am in Room 244.

Participants MUST HAVE one of the following platforms/devices in order to participate in this session: Not Applicable

Participants MAY FIND IT USEFUL to have one or more of the following platforms/devices during this session: Mac Laptop, Windows Laptop, Android Tablet / Smartphone, iPad / iPhone, Windows Tablet / Smartphone, Chromebook

Speakers

Nicole Johnson

Academic Advisor & Content Specialist, UEN - Utah Education Network

Nicole is an educational technology specialist who equips school counselors with the tools they need to implement comprehensive school counseling programs and increase equitable student outcomes through technology. She also provides academic planning and advising for teachers looking... Read More →

Braxton Thorley

Senior Technology Trainer, UEN - Utah Education Network

Braxton specializes in using technology to personalize learning and utilizing artificial intelligence to promote student success. Before joining UEN’s professional development team, Braxton worked as a high school language arts teacher and digital learning coach in Jordan School... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT
Lecture Hall 1750 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060

1 hour BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Hands-On-Activities, Beginner - limited to no experience; no prerequisite skills required.

Learning Strand or Track Educational Technology
Subject Area Not Applicable, Other
Audience Teachers, EdTech Coach/Digital Teaching & Learning Specialists, Instructional Coaches
Grade Level 3 - 4, 5 - 6, Middle School / Jr. High - grades 6 - 8, High School - grades 9 - 12

11:00am MDT

Utah Science Assessment Updates

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Room #234

Change happens, and there have been some changes in science assessment in Utah. Come hear about the updates and have all of your questions answered.

Participants MUST HAVE one of the following platforms/devices in order to participate in this session: Various ways to access the internet

Participants MAY FIND IT USEFUL to have one or more of the following platforms/devices during this session: Any way to access the internet

Speakers

Samantha Tinkey

Secondary Science Assessment Specialist, USBE - Utah State Board of Education

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT
Room #234 1750 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060

1 hour BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Hands-On-Activities, Beginner - limited to no experience; no prerequisite skills required.

Learning Strand or Track Utah Core Curriculum, Assessment & Data Management
Subject Area Science
Audience Teachers, District / School Administrators, Instructional Coaches, Curriculum Specialists
Grade Level 3 - 4, 5 - 6, Middle School / Jr. High - grades 6 - 8, High School - grades 9 - 12

11:00am MDT

HELP! My Students Can't Write...Advancing Thinking Through Writing K-5

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Room #137

Are your students struggling to write? We will look at the Science of Writing, LETRS strategies, and use a guide to advancing thinking through writing in all subjects and grades. You will leave with a pacing guide and hands on experience for explicitly teaching sentence skills and paragraph skills K-5. We will focus on carefully sequencing instruction, building from sentences to compositions. Using sentence builders, four square writing method, Dr. Anita Archer explicit instruction strategies, and The Writing Revolution you will leave with a clear understanding of how to intentionally plan writing across all subject areas. The Writing Revolution (TWR) provides a clear method of instruction that you can use no matter what subject or grade level you teach.

Participants MUST HAVE one of the following platforms/devices in order to participate in this session: Not Applicable

Participants MAY FIND IT USEFUL to have one or more of the following platforms/devices during this session: Not Applicable, Mac Laptop, Windows Laptop

Speakers

Amy Mahoney

Prek-12, NUES - Northeastern Utah Educational Services

Amy is a Learning Coach at Northeastern Utah Educational Services that supports PreK-12th grade. Amy provides on-going professional learning for teachers, paraprofessionals, building coaches, administrators and district directors. She engages in coaching cycles, PLCs, and science... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT
Room #137 1750 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060

1 hour traditional lecture/audience participation, Beginner - limited to no experience; no prerequisite skills required., Intermediate - basic core competency; some prerequisite skills required.

Learning Strand or Track Utah Core Curriculum
Subject Area Language Arts, ESL, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Special Education
Audience Teachers, Instructional Coaches
Grade Level PK - 2, 3 - 4, 5 - 6, Elementary - grades K - 6

11:00am MDT

Scrible: Elevate Student Research and Writing in Your K-12 Classroom

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Room #235

In this 60-minute session, K-12 educators will discover how Scrible empowers students to conduct effective online research and streamline the writing process. Learn how to leverage Scrible's annotation, citation, and organization tools to foster critical thinking and academic integrity. We'll explore practical strategies for integrating Scrible into various subject areas and grade levels, helping students develop essential research and writing skills for success.

Participants MUST HAVE one of the following platforms/devices in order to participate in this session: Not Applicable

Participants MAY FIND IT USEFUL to have one or more of the following platforms/devices during this session: Mac Laptop, Windows Laptop, Android Tablet / Smartphone, iPad / iPhone, Windows Tablet / Smartphone, Chromebook

Speakers

Chris Haught

Media Specialist, Southwest Educational Development Center

Chris Haught is the Technology/Media Mentor at Southwest Educational Service Center (SEDC), a regional Service Center that serves six district and seven charter ELA’s.Chris works closely with the region’s librarians providing support and training on Utah’s Online Library, the... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm MDT
Room #235 1750 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060

1 hour traditional lecture/audience participation, Beginner - limited to no experience; no prerequisite skills required.