WITS Rewritten will center students furthest from educational justice and bring literary arts engagement opportunities into their classrooms. In its inaugural year, WITS Rewritten is partnering with Wing Luke Elementary School, Denny International Middle School, and Rainier Beach High School in the Seattle Public School District.
WITS Rewritten
WITS Rewritten is a pilot program that provides WITS at no cost to K-12 public schools that serve students furthest from educational justice due to systemic racial and socio-economic inequities.
About WITS Rewritten
How do you determine which students are furthest from educational justice?
WITS Rewritten uses an intersectional equity analysis that considers data about various student groups to determine which schools to serve. This analysis includes, but is not limited to data about the following groups:
- Black/African American male students
- Students of color
- Low-income students
- Multilingual learners
- Students born outside the US
- Students experiencing homelessness
These data groups mirror the groups that Seattle Public Schools utilizes when assessing schools’ equity tiers, so as to account for a wide variety of racial, cultural, and socio-economic factors that are linked to student outcome and opportunity gaps. We also consider potential partner schools’ available resources and students’ holistic access to the arts.
If schools aren’t paying, how is the program funded?
The total cost of a typical, 84-hour WITS residency is $20,000. Historically, participating schools have made small contributions (through tiered subsidized hourly rates, based on the percentage of the student body that qualifies for free-and-reduced lunch) and Seattle Arts & Lectures has subsidized approximately 70-95% of residency costs. WITS Rewritten will see Seattle Arts & Lectures subsidizing 100% of residency costs by increasing our contributed revenue streams.
Are you going to bring WITS Rewritten to more schools in the 2024-25 academic year?
We would like to! Our goal is to, incrementally and sustainably, bring on both new school partners as well as eradicate school fees for many of our existing school partners. We just need to meet our revenue goals in order to move in this direction.
How do I learn more about WITS Rewritten?
Reach out! Our Director of Youth Programs, Jennifer Lobsenz, can be best reached at [email protected]. WITS has always been an ecosystem and we’re interested in connecting with anyone who wants to learn more about this pilot program, whether you are a parent, student, principal, or community member.
I want to help support WITS Rewritten!
Awesome! The only way this works is in partnership with folks who are interested in supporting increased access to the arts for young people. Our Director of Development, Betsey Brock, can be best reached at [email protected].