WITS Apprentice

Position Description: Writers in the Schools (WITS), a literary arts education program of Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL), places professional local writers in public K-12 schools throughout the Puget Sound region, as well as Seattle Children’s Hospital, for extended creative writing residencies during the school day. WITS empowers young people to discover and develop their authentic writing and performance voices as they build skills and self-confidence. Through WITS, students become the authors of their own lives.

For the coming 2025-26 school year, we are hiring two paid WITS Writer Apprentices. Apprentices are practicing writers in the community who will observe and work alongside two experienced WITS Writers-in-Residence who will serve as WITS Mentors. We welcome applications from writers of diverse mediums; we are looking for poets, prose writers, playwrights, cartoonists/graphic novelists, and memoirists.

Download WITS Apprentice Job Description 2025-26

We especially encourage Black writers, Indigenous writers, writers of color, writers from the LGBTQ+ community, multilingual writers, and writers from interdisciplinary backgrounds to apply. WITS Writer Apprentices must show a demonstrated commitment to anti-racist pedagogy and practice.

By providing ongoing mentorship from an experienced WITS Writer-in-Residence, from SAL staff, and through professional development opportunities with the WITS cohort throughout the year, this program aims to provide meaningful on-the-job training to emerging writers and teaching artists in our community. A successful WITS Apprentice will have preferred consideration as a WITS Writer- in-Residence in the 2026-27 school year hiring process.

Writers in the Schools (WITS) has four primary goals:

  • Inspire students to engage in the writing process, build writing skills, and increase self- confidence
  • Bring a race and equity lens to the teaching of creative writing with the goal of cultivating a sense of belonging for all, while centering students most impacted by structural racism
  • Build a positive learning community that amplifies and celebrates student voices.
  • Support teachers and students by providing opportunities for meaningful connection withlocal writers

Learn more about the program and current WITS Writers at: lectures.org/youth-programs/wits/

Job duties and schedule:

• September 2025

o New Writer Meeting on September 3 (in-person, from 1-2:30pm).
o Apprentice/Mentor Meeting on September 3 (in-person, from 2:30-3:30pm).
o Fall Writers Orientation on September 9 (in-person, from 9:30am-1pm).

• October–December 2025

o Attend pre-residency planning meeting and mid-residency check-in with WITS Mentor, SAL staff, and classroom teacher to understand the goals of the residency and learn how to best support student needs.
o Attend all in-class sessions of a WITS residency and – with support from a WITS Mentor – create and lead two class lessons. (Anticipated in-class schedule: one day per week, one hour/day.)
o Assisting students in their WITS writing who need direct, one-on-one support. o Supporting WITS writer as needed with tasks such as: responding to student work, pre-reading through upcoming syllabi material, preparing materials, research on mentor texts, supporting with preparations for a final class celebration project, etc.
o Observe 2 other WITS Writers-in-Residence in action and meet 1:1 for a post-observation debrief.

• December 2025
o Attend in-person, check-in meeting with WITS Mentor and SAL staff (exact date TBD)

• January–April 2026

o Attend pre-residency planning meeting and mid-residency check-in with WITS Mentor, SAL staff, and classroom teacher to understand the goals of the residency and learn how to best support student needs.
o Attend all in-class sessions of a WITS residency and – with support from a WITS Mentor – create and lead two class lessons. (Anticipated in-class schedule: one day per week, one hour/day.) o Assisting students who need direct one-on-one support with their writing during class.
o Supporting WITS writer as needed with tasks such as: responding to student work, pre-reading through upcoming syllabi material, preparing materials, research on mentor texts, supporting with preparations for a final class celebration project, etc.
o Observe 2 other WITS Writers-in-Residence in action and meet 1:1 for a post- observation debrief.

• May–June 2026

o Design syllabi and review with WITS Mentor

WITS Apprentices are also expected to attend all Writer Cohort Meetings on November 8, January 20, March 17, May 19 (all online, from 4-5:30pm).

Requirements:

  • A commitment to participate fully in the program (inclusive of 20 in-class hours and 70 administrative/prep hours), as detailed above. Exact schedule to be determined in coordination with candidate and schools.
  • A practicing writer in the community with a demonstrated record of work in the study, publication, and/or performance of creative writing. The candidate need not have extensive publication records, but must be actively working on their own writing and an eager participant in the Seattle literary community.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Demonstrated interest in, and commitment to anti-racist education (note: education experience may take many forms, both inside and outside of school settings) and one’s own writing practice.

Expectations:

  • An interest in increasing knowledge of anti-racist pedagogy, disability justice and access, social-emotional learning.
  • Open, reliable, professional, timely communication and collaboration with SAL staff and writer, partner teacher, and all students.
  • Reliability in all scheduled time in schools.
  • Positive attitude: friendly and respectful when working with students, WITS Mentors,SAL staff, teachers & school staff
  • A willingness to learn, grow, and adapt.
  • Confidentiality about all student work.
  • Sense of humor, flexibility, and responsiveness to differing student needs within a classroom setting.

Compensation & Opportunities:

  • $3,000 stipend (20 in-class hours at $62.50/hour + 70 administrative/prep hours at $25/hour)
  • Free tickets to all SAL events in the 2025-26 Season (lectures.org/events).
  • Opportunity to read your work at Murmurations, SAL’s quarterly reading series featuringWITS Writers-in-Residence
  • Preferred status for hiring for future WITS writer residencies

Application Deadline: June 30, 2025 at 9pm

To apply, please submit ALL documents below:

  1. A cover letter including why you are interested in being a WITS Apprentice and what you hope to get out of participating in the program.
  2. A resume.
  3. An idea for a pairing of a mentor text (a poem, one-page work of prose, or comic by a writer you admire) and a suggested writing prompt inspired by that piece.
  4. Your general availability/schedule for the upcoming school year, and/or any school placement preferences you might have (grade level, geography, etc.).
  5. A 1-page creative writing sample of your own writing.

Note: Please save all application materials as one PDF and label it Firstname.Lastname_WITSApprentice2025-26

Send application materials to: salhr@lectures.org, subject line: WITS 2025-26 Apprentice Program

Hiring Timeline & Process

• Applications due: June 30, 2025
• In-person interviews: July 2025
• Candidates will be selected in early August.