Nebraska Writing Project

Sandhilll cranes flying to roost on the Platte River at sunset

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie

Everyone is looking for a professional home.

Make the Nebraska Writing Project yours.

The Nebraska Writing Project (NeWP) is a network of educators, kindergarten through college, committed to the teaching of writing across disciplines and communities.  We are a site of the National Writing Project, the largest organization in the US devoted to writing education.  We offer professional development, graduate classes, youth writing camps, writing workshops for community members, teacher leadership initiatives, writing events in national parks, and more—our programs are designed and facilitated by teachers themselves.  Come join a community of educators passionate about how writing can enable learning, innovation, and change. 

2024 Summer Institutes

Summer Institutes are the Nebraska Writing Project’s premiere program and are open to teachers of all disciplines and grade levels. Participants generate writing, share best teaching practices for writing at their grade level and disciplines, and engage in inquiry and research into aspects of writing.

Tuition remission is available for the Summer Institute--earn 6 graduate credits for the price of 3!

Summer Institute

June 3-21, 2024 | 6 graduate credits for the price of 3 | Hybrid session (join either in-person or online)

Nebraska Writing Project’s premiere program, the Summer Institute is open to teachers of all disciplines and grade levels. The 2024 Summer Institute redesigns the National Writing Project model as a hybrid experience to allow either in-person and distance access. This graduate-level course focuses on rejuvenating participants' own love of writing, inspiring collaborative inquiry with other teachers, and developing participants' own teaching practices. Facilitated by Stacey Waite, Jillian Harpster, and Melissa Legate.

Advanced Institute

June 3-19, 2024 | 3 graduate credits | Hybrid session (join either in-person or online)

As teachers, we help students become comfortable with the discomfort of learning, so that they can engage new perspectives, gain experience discussing complex issues, and grow in their capacity as thinkers and writers. This work has become more difficult in a cultural moment saturated with fear. Fear drives book bans and curriculum censorship, with claims that such acts protect students from difficult ideas or information. Fear also impacts teachers, who may anticipate consequences for conversing with students about the many difficult issues threaded through literature and our students’ writing and lives--race, gender identity, suicide, poverty. Fear also prevents possibilities for dialogue and connection. In this Advanced Institute, we will come together to explore strategies for teaching difficult conversations in a divisive political moment and for communicating the value of this work to the public. Because of the additional labor this requires of educators, we will also consider how we can support ourselves, our students, and one another in this challenging time. Facilitated by Shari Stenberg and Jennifer Long.

For more information, visit the Summer Institute page here.