BUTLER TWP - Several hundred educators will gather in Butler County this October for the annual Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English conference.

The conference will be Oct. 15 and 16 at the Butler County Community College Cultural Center.

Bob Dandoy, council president and a Karns City English teacher, is thrilled to be able to hold the conference in Butler this year.

"Once a year we hold an annual conference, and we move it throughout the state each year," Dandoy said. "It had always been one of my desires to have one of these conferences here, but Butler never had a place that was big enough until now."

Dandoy said he was attending a production at BC3's new cultural center/theater last year when the idea hit him to use the center for the annual conference.

During the two-day conference, educators will talk about issues ranging from professional programs and idea exchanges to exhibits of books and materials.

"We pretty much run the gambit," Dandoy said.

He said the idea is for educators who attend the conference to take fresh ideas back to their schools and implement them.

"We want them to be able to walk back into the classroom on Monday and say 'Wow, I've got a great idea for a project,' " he said.

Keynote speakers will be Linda Rief, a nationally-known educator and author of the book "Seeking Diversity," and Lois Burdett, an elementary teacher from Ontario, who wrote a series of books for elementary school students called "Shakespeare Can Be Fun."

Two Butler educators will be conference co-chairs this year. They are Kathy Leone, a teacher at Butler Catholic School, and Tammy Smith, a reading specialist in the Butler School District.

Janice Spohn, a reading specialist at Peebles Elementary School in North Allegheny, will assist them.

Special entertainment for the conference will be provided on the evening of Oct. 15 at the BC3 Succop Theater. The Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater group will perform.

The performance is open to the public as well as conference attendees.