The Central Utah Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute (SI) brings together a group of passionate K-12 teachers across all content areas and grade levels. We welcome early career and experienced teachers, elementary, middle, high school, and college educators, as well as teachers across all subject areas. The strength of the SI comes from the teachers who participate. Together we will cultivate a dynamic environment to hone both our writing practice and our pedagogy. During the SI we will engage in community with each other to investigate and reflect on our instructional methods, prepare and deliver presentations, and work in writing groups toward personal and professional publication. Working from the belief that teachers of writing must also write themselves, participants will practice daily writing as well as investigate and share innovative ways to teach writing. This immersive process builds a community of writers and learners.
As a participant in the SI, you will gather more ideas and better strategies for teaching writing, share in collegial relationships with other teachers, earn credits or professional development points, and receive new books for your professional library. Teachers who participate in the SI become CUWP Fellows who take a leadership role in their schools and have opportunities to continue learning and leading with our community.
We know that the best teachers of teachers are other teachers, and that teachers who are writers themselves are the most effective writing teachers. Our aim is for teachers to learn together and come away from the Institute with a renewed excitement about and commitment to writing and the teaching of writing.
Summer Institutes 2026
This summer, CUWP is partnering with Brigham Young University (BYU) and Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) to offer the Summer Institute in TWO locations and with TWO emphases to explore relevant inquiries and professional learning for elementary, middle, high school, and college teachers. Regardless of which cohort teachers participate in, they will have the opportunity to earn 6.0 graduate credits, become a CUWP Fellow, and develop as a writer and a teacher of writers. See below for more information on each Summer Institute to find the best fit for you.
BYU SI 2026
Emphasis: K-12 writing in English and other content areas
Location: BYU campus in Provo
Facilitators:
- Amber Jensen and Brian Jackson (BYU English Faculty)
- Megan McOmber (Springville Junior High English Teacher)
2026 Dates:
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March 26 (Th): Pre-Institute Dinner, 5:00 – 8:30 pm
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May 9 (S): Running Start, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
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June 8-11 (M-Th): 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
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June 15-18 (M-Th): Summer Institute, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
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June 22-25 (M-Th), Summer Institute, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Application Deadline: February 6, 2026. Group interviews will be held for invited applicants in February, and decisions will be made by early March.
Cost: Invited teacher participants may complete the Summer Institute for professional development credits at no cost or for 6 graduate BYU credits at a cost of about $300. We encourage teachers to ask administrators for funding to cover the cost of the graduate credits as part of their commitment to your continued professional growth.
SLCC SI 2026
Emphasis: Concurrent enrollment and college writing
Location: SLCC campus in Taylorsville
Facilitators:
- Liz Thackeray Nelson (UVU English Faculty)
- Lori Muir (Salem Hills High School Teacher)
2026 Dates:
- March 19 (Th): Pre-Institute Kickoff Dinner, 4:30 – 8:30 pm
- May 19 (S): Running Start, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
- July 6-9 (M-Th): 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
- July 13-16 (M-Th): 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
- July 20-23 (M-Th): 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Application Deadline: February 26, 2026. Group interviews will be held for invited applicants in February, and decisions will be made by early March.
Cost: $1600 per teacher for participation in the CESI, earning 6 graduate BYU credits. Several of our school district partners are funding scholarships for teachers to create pathways for more qualified Concurrent Enrollment teachers. We encourage teachers and principals to work together to fully fund participation.
Application Details
Application Deadline: February 6, 2026 (BYU) and February 26, 2026 (SLCC)
The online application includes information about the applicant, short responses that help us get to know you and your goals for participation, and a pledge of support from your administrator. The CUWP Leadership Team will review applications and reach out to prospective participants to schedule a group interview in February. Invited participants will be informed in early March so they can plan for the three-week institute in the summer.
Short Reflections (in the online application)
Help us get to know you as a writer, a teacher, a learner, and a leader as we build a cohort of teachers from a range of backgrounds, experiences, and teaching settings. We are excited to get to know you! Aim for each of these responses to be focused and brief, in the 50-150 word range.
- Why are you interested in participating in the CUWP Summer Institute? What are you hoping to gain from this experience? You may consider your identities as a writer, a teacher, a learner, and/or a leader.
- Describe to a new colleague how you teach writing to your students. You may consider when students write, what they write, how they write, who they write for, how their writing is assessed, how they (or you) feel about writing, etc.
- Describe a successful writing assignment, practice, experience, or lesson you’ve implemented with students. What made it effective?
- Describe a current challenge or struggle you’re facing in teaching writing. What might be contributing to that problem or challenge?
- What questions about teaching writing do you have that you might be excited to explore with other teachers during the Summer Institute?
- What perspectives, experiences, or traits will you bring to a community of teachers from various backgrounds and settings? You may consider your identities as a writer, a teacher, a learner, and/or a leader.
Administrator Pledge of Support
One of our goals is to support teachers in becoming leaders in their school communities and advocates for effective writing instruction. We want to collaborate with your school administrators to support your experience at this professional learning opportunity.
Please download and give this letter to your school administrator, and then upload their recommendation and pledge of support as part of the online application. You may ask your administrator to email the letter of support directly to cuwp@byu.edu by the application deadline.
Why Should I Participate?
- DEVELOP COMMUNITY WITH OTHER TEACHERS whose experiences align with – and differ – from each other’s. This includes teachers of all grades levels and subjects. We will learn and share with teachers whose teaching contexts perhaps differ from yours. We will write, share, laugh, cry, eat, and connect as humans with each other through the summer.
- WRITE DAILY – IN A VARIETY OF GENRES – AND ENGAGE IN A SMALL WRITING GROUP for attention, appreciation, and suggestions for the next draft. Each participant will produce a portfolio by the end of SI which includes at least one personal and at least one professional piece of writing.
- PARTICIPATE IN A SMALL-GROUP PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE CIRCLES to investigate questions we bring from our own teaching experiences. Each group will make a brief presentation to the rest of the participants toward the end of the SI. We hope to activate a mindset of ongoing professional inquiry.
- CURATE A COLLECTION OF TEACHING STRATEGIES to reach ALL of our students. Each participant will share their own learning as part of a lab lesson that they will prepare and deliver to theirs peers during the SI, which will lead to a collection of resources, strategies, and teaching materials participants can adapt to their own teaching contexts.
- EXPERIENCE WORKSHOPS from teachers and experts that center on what really works in our teaching of writing.
- EARN 6 GRADUATE CREDITS OR 101 RECERTIFICATION POINTS toward relicensure that reflect your renewed commitment to writing instruction. See an example course syllabus here.
Frequently Asked Questions
The annual Summer Institute meets four days a week for three weeks in the summer. There are two pre-Institute events, one in March and one in May, to get us started. See the dates for this summer’s SI above.
The BYU Summer Institute is held on Brigham Young University campus in the Joseph Fielding Smith Building (JFSB). Parking on campus for participants will be free.
The SLCC Summer Institute is at the Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville campus. More details forthcoming.
Any elementary, middle, high school, or college teacher in any subject area who is interested in – even passionate about – the teaching of writing. The SI is open to teachers in all content areas and grade levels, not just English/language arts teachers.
Thanks to the sponsorship of the BYU College of Humanities, the BYU Summer Institute is free to all accepted participants. Those interested in registering for 6.0 BYU graduate credits at a reduced cost (approximately $300) are welcome to earn credits toward relicensure, lane change, etc. We encourage teachers to ask administrators to support their participation by covering this minimal cost.
We are working with area school districts to sponsor teacher participants for the SLCC Summer Institute at no cost to the teacher. The priority will be high school teachers who currently teach or who would like to work toward being qualified to teach Concurrent Enrollment writing courses. More details on this are forthcoming.
You can register to receive up to 6 hours of either Elementary Education of Secondary Education graduate credits (ELED or SCED 589R) from BYU.
All participants in the SI will be eligible to receive 6 USBE credits or 101 relicensure hours through the Midas System of the Utah State Board of Education.
Follow the link above. The application includes information about the applicant, brief teaching reflections, and an administrator pledge of support.
Participants are expected to attend every day of the SI. If you know you have a trip planned that overlaps or you know you will need to miss more than one or two days, consider applying the following summer!
Below is a sample schedule of our days together. During the SI, we will also participate in a walk-and-write event one morning, host CUWP fellows for a reunion day with a guest speaker, and, on the last day, we will invite administrators and colleagues to showcase what we’ve learned together.
8:30 am – light breakfast and writing time
9:00 am – presentation of the log from the day before
9:15 am – workshop or lab lesson presentation
10:15 am – break
10:30 am – lab lesson reflection discussion
11:00 am – sacred writing time
12:00 – lunch
12:45 pm – reading groups
1:45 pm – break
2:00 pm – writing groups
3:20 pm – participant spotlight and preview of next day