Downtown businesses near the Edmonton Convention Centre are getting a temporary boost from thousands of teachers attending their annual two-day convention.
You don’t have to look any further than Sherlock Holmes on Rice Howard Way, which had a lineup Thursday of people waiting to get in for lunch.
“Teachers’ convention is always a good time for businesses downtown, we look forward to it every year,” said Jordan Beatty, the restaurant’s general manager, who was directing traffic in busy kitchen.
Beatty said the convention dates are always circled on the calendar, and the restaurant is usually at capacity for much of the day.
‘Blow off some steam’
“They start first thing in the morning, they go to convention, they come for lunch, some will go back, some will stay and network, some will have a good time, blow off some steam doing whatever it is that teachers need to do,” said Beatty, whose parents are both teachers.
Pubs and restaurants near the convention centre have been busy.
“We just got a table, and we’ve been waiting for 35 to 40 minutes,” said Lainey Fleet, a Grade 1 teacher from Fort McMurray, who was in Sherlock Holmes with two colleagues.
The trio had just wrapped up their first workshop of the day, and spent some time checking out vendor booths set up throughout the convention centre.
The teachers’ convention was the first for Paula Campbell. The first year Grade 1 teacher said the convention seemed a bit overwhelming
“We’ve seen a really good speaker this morning, so yeah, it’s been good,” she said.
‘Get some relaxation in’
“We get to go to our sessions during the day,” said Tanya Quaglia, a Fort McMurray Grade 2 teacher. “In between sessions, at lunch and then afterwards, we can hang out and have fun and get some relaxation in.”
Across the street from Sherlock Holmes, the noon-hour waiting time at Craft Beer Market was up to two hours long.
About 9,000 teachers from public and Catholic schools in Edmonton and Fort McMurray registered to attend the Greater Edmonton Teachers’ Conference.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association puts on 10 conventions throughout the province during February and March.
The teachers have more than 500 sessions to choose from, including keynote speakers such as former CBC personality Rick Mercer and Canadian Olympic silver and bronze medallist Silken Laumann.
The ATA said attendance is taken seriously at annual conferences.
“When we’re dealing with more than 40,000 teachers across the province, I think our record in terms of attendance at teachers’ convention is exemplary,” said ATA president Greg Jeffery.