Writers in the Schools

Empowering young people to become the authors of their own lives.

For the past 30 years, Writers in the Schools (WITS) has connected professional writers with K‑12 public school classrooms for extended creative writing residences.

In partnership with classroom teachers, WITS Writers cultivate spaces where young people can find their own cadence, speak their own truths, and act with creative agency and urgency—all in their own classroom. Through WITS, we support students as they discover and develop their own authentic writing and performance voices—and then give them the stage to make their voices Seattle’s own. Since its inception in 1994, WITS has served over 150,000 students throughout the Puget Sound region.

As a capstone for the work that these young poets, fiction writers, comics artists, and memoirists have done, we publish an annual anthology filled to the brim with potent student work. We also host two Year-End Readings, during which young people are able to claim their space on the stage and deliver their message—whether it be of hope, rage, or joy—to an encouraging audience. Check out last year’s Year-End Readings here and here.

How WITS Works

We work with each partner school to design syllabi that meets their particular learning goals, curriculum needs, student interests, and schedule. In a typical residency, WITS Writers teaches three or four classes of students once a week for 10-14 weeks. Providing students with sustained, sequential learning allows them to engage with the full arc of the writing process: brainstorming, pre-writing, drafting, revising, publishing, and performing.

WITS Writers are responsible for designing curriculum, leading lessons, providing feedback on student work, and planning a culminating project. Partner teachers are responsible for assisting the WITS Writer with overall planning, providing an understanding of the school’s culture, and leading classroom management. They are also invited and encouraged to participate fully in the lessons.

WITS is committed to supporting classroom teachers as they help students build the necessary skills for meeting state standards and performing well on assessments like Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) testing and the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA). WITS Writers’ curricula will work in tandem with the State of Washington’s ELA Standards, as well as by fostering student growth and confidence in their writing skills.

Partner Schools

In the 2025/26 school year, we are working with 40 partner schools in 8 school districts to serve over 6,000 students.

Our partner school districts include: Bellevue School District, Highline School District, Lake Washington School District, Lopez Island School District, Renton School District, Seattle Public Schools, Shoreline School District, and Tukwila School District.

Our partner schools include:

Aki Kurose Middle School
B.F. Day Elementary School
Big Picture Middle School
Big Picture High School
Brookside Elementary School
Cascade Middle School
C atharine Blaine K-8 School
The Center School
Cleveland High School
Dearborn Park Int. Elementary School
Dimmitt Middle School
Evergreen High School
Foster High School
Garfield High School
Graham Hill Elementary School
Innovation Heights Academy
John Muir Elementary School
Lafayette Elementary School
Laurelhurst Elementary School
Leschi Elementary School
Lopez High School
Lopez Middle School
Maple Elementary School
McClure Middle School
Meany Middle School
Mercer Int. Middle School
Nathan Hale High School
Orca K-8 School
Puesta Del Sol Elementary School
Renaissance School of A&R
Rising Star Elementary School
Roosevelt High School
Roxhill Elementary School
Seattle Children’s ED
Seattle Children’s PCP
Seattle World School
TOPS K-8 School
West Seattle High School
West Woodland Elementary School
Wing Luke Elementary School

Program Goals

Our work is driven by our utmost goals to:

Support students in building a practice of self-expression, increasing reading and writing skills, and growing self-confidence.
Energize teachers by offering new, enriching learning experiences.
Provide writers with opportunities to develop pedagogical skills—and teach their craft to the next generation of writers.
Integrate the arts into schools’ academic curriculums.
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.
Bolster a positive learning community that amplifies and celebrates youth voices.

Is your school interested in partnering with WITS? Tell us more about what you are looking for here.

Impact

Since 2017, SAL has partnered with MEM Consultants, a long-established Seattle-based firm specializing in youth development and arts programs, to develop and implement our annual WITS program evaluation. With MEM’s guidance, we continually refine this process to better assess the impact of WITS and inform future program decisions.

Download the Impact Report

Students are excited for WITS every week. Many of my most reluctant writers never want to miss a moment of WITS.WITS Partner Teacher

My favorite part of WITS was when suddenly the bell would ring, and I would realize that a lot of time passed while I was wrapped up in writing, and how WITS made me feel like I could just write, write, and write.WITS Middle School Student

[The best thing about WITS was] that when you write a poem it feels like you are leaving your desk when really you are not.WITS High School Student

I loved how fun and inspiring it was for me. I never knew I could write poems like that.WITS Elementary School Student

WITS did such an amazing job of helping some of our quietest students find their voices. I was so proud of the growth students exhibited both in their confidence and in their ability to support their peers in their writing journeys.WITS Partner Teacher

I liked that everyone was being their own self and not trying to hide or make a lie in their writing. I felt like we were all connected.WITS Middle School Student

WITS can’t be better if it’s the best.WITS Elementary School Student

FAQ

In the 2025/26 school year, we partnered with 40 partner schools (38 K-12 public schools and 2 Seattle Children’s hospital departments). We will serve a similar number of partner schools in 2026/27.

Tell us more about you, your school, and your interest in partnering! Submit your application here and a member of our staff will get back to you shortly.

Have additional questions that you’d like to chat about? Reach out to us at wits@lectures.org.

Yes… for now.

The total cost of a typical, 84-hour WITS residency is $20,000. Partner schools make small contributions through tiered subsidized hourly rates that range from $40/hour-$90/hour. Hourly rates are determined based on a data-driven, intersectional analysis of schools’ student populations and their collective access to arts education opportunities.

However! We are currently in our third year of WITS Rewritten, a funding initiative that centers youth with the least access to arts engagement opportunities and eradicates the school fee to participate. In the 2026/27 school year, we will serve 15 schools through WITS Rewritten (at no cost to the school). There is no programmatic difference between WITS and WITS Rewritten. Learn more about WITS Rewritten here.

We work with all K-12 grades. That said: in elementary school, it is more common for us to work with students in 3rd grade or above.

The WITS Writers Collective is a cohort of local professional writers who bring their creative writing skills into the classroom and nurture the next generation of writers. Through a competitive, annual application process, writers who demonstrate a dedicated commitment to anti‑oppression pedagogy, social emotional skill building, and student centered learning are selected to be members of this literary teaching artist cohort.

We work with each partner school to design a curriculum that meets their particular learning outcomes, classroom norms, and student-centered goals. Prior to a residency beginning, WITS Writers and partner teachers gather for a planning meeting. Afterwards, WITS Writers design a tailored curriculum inclusive of sequential weekly lessons that allow students to engage with the full arc of the writing process: brainstorming, pre-writing, drafting, revising, publishing, and performing. While there is no “standard” WITS lesson plan, all curriculum will consider grade-level ELA standards, accessible entry points for a wide variety of learners, and will culminate with a final project.

Has your student been invited to read their work at the WITS Year End Readings? The online permission slip is here.
Has your student been invited to have their work published in the annual WITS anthology? The online permission slip is here.
Are we taking photographs in your student’s classroom? The general permission slip is here.

Get Involved

Interested in partnering with WITS? Submit your application here, and a member of our staff will get back to you shortly. Have additional questions that you’d like to chat about? Reach out to us at wits@lectures.org.

We are also available to travel to your school to talk one-on-one with you or to make a larger presentation to a group of interested teachers and administrators.

If you are interested in bringing WITS to your child’s school, please collaborate with your school to discuss what might be possible before submitting an application. Once you are ready, submit your application here, and a member of our staff will get back to you shortly. Have additional questions that you’d like to chat about? Reach out to us at wits@lectures.org.

Also: come through! We’d love to see you and your children at the WITS Year-End Readings and the Youth Poet Laureate Book Launch.

Love WITS and want to be involved in keeping it great? Email us at wits@lectures.org to learn about opportunities for current or former WITS students.

WITS Summer Publishing Internship

Every summer, we hire two paid WITS Summer Publishing Interns. Applications for our 2026 internships are now closed. The application period for our 2027 internships will open in February 2027.

Youth Poetry Fellowship

Our Youth Poetry Fellowship program gives a platform to youth (ages 14-19) who care deeply about poetry as a tool for civic engagement and positive change. The application for our 2026/27 fellowship cohort will open in April 2026 and can be found on “Get Involved” on our About page.

We accept applications to join the WITS Writers Collective every summer. Check out “Get Involved” on our About page in the early summer for more information on how to apply.

Donate supplies. Composition books, pocket folders, art supplies, spaces and treats for our WITS Writer meetings, cupcakes for our Year End Readings, audio/visual services, in-kind printing, and beyond are welcome. The list goes on!
Spread the word. Tell your friends who are teachers, parents, writers, journalists, and supporters of the literary arts about WITS!
Come to events. The cost of your ticket to our literary events helps support our arts education programming.
Make a tax-deductible donation. Your support allows WITS to serve more youth, incrementally eradicate the school fee to participate, and competitively compensate our WITS Writers. Click here to donate today.
Want to get involved in another way? Reach out to us at wits@lectures.org and let’s talk.