2026 Invitational Summer Institute on Beaver Island
The application window is open! The 2026 invitational summer institute will be held at CMU’s Biological Station on Beaver Island from Sunday, August 2nd - Friday, August 7th, 2026.
Inquiry, Immersion, and Interdisciplinary
Since 2016, educators from across Michigan districts have participated in a week-long, intensive workshop at Central Michigan University’s Biological Station on Beaver Island, taking advantage of the island’s unique biodiversity to explore language arts, science, and the arts.
More recently, the Chippewa River Writing Project has adapted its model for the invitational summer institute to welcome all educators who teach writing — both in ELA and across the disciplines — to apply for this opportunity!
“The Beaver Island Institute is an incredibly immersive professional development experience that provides educators with creative strategies for blending literacy and science. The week provided us with much-needed time to collaborate with colleagues, so we can plan for classroom implementation of these strategies.”
- Karyn McConachie, an 8th & 9th grade teacher from Eppler Junior High of Utica Community Schools.
With generous support from CMU’s Department of Teacher and Special Education, costs for all lodging, meals, a ferry ride from Charlevoix to the island and back, SCECHs, and instructional costs are covered (apx $1000 value) for up to twelve (12) PK-12 teacher participants.
This year, our institute will take place at CMU's Biological Station on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan from Sunday, August 2nd to Friday, August 7th, 2026.
This application form will close on Friday, April 17th, 2026.
A key component of the summer institute is preparing and delivering a 60-minute "teaching demonstration" of a promising practice related to writing in your classroom context. Accepted participants are asked to envision and develop a lesson to teach to the cohort that is writing-centric and engages students in thoughtful writing exploration and practice. As participants in the lesson, the cohort offers questions and feedback; this sharing of ideas strengthens and broadens the teaching practices of us all.
The application process is competitive and requires you to craft a brief essay (400-500 words) on the following prompts:
Introduce yourself as a writer and teacher of writing. What kinds of personal and professional writing would you like to do during the summer institute?
Describe an approach, strategy, or idea related to the teaching of writing and/or the writing process that you would like to share with a group of colleagues in a 60-minute teaching demonstration.
Also, please share a bit more about your learners, in context: describe the grade level and/or subject area your demonstration would focus on.
Finally, briefly discuss why you want to be affiliated with CRWP and earn an internationally recognized credential as a National Writing Project Teacher Consultant.
“What this institute does for us as learners, and what you the facilitators do for us as we consider new ways to teach science, well, it cannot be replicated by any publisher in a standard curriculum.”
- Todd Starry, a middle school science teacher from St. Louis Schools
Participants and alternates who are selected will be notified by April 30th, 2026 and asked to attend a 90-minute virtual orientation session at a time to be determined in late May or early June. Throughout the summer, your CRWP coach will follow up with you once or twice in preparation for our institute during the first week of August.
Questions? Please reach out to Troy Hicks at the email address below.
On behalf of the CRWP Leadership Team,
Dr. Troy Hicks
Director, Chippewa River Writing Project
troy.hicks@cmich.edu
“The institute was a wonderful experience at a unique location. You provided relevant activities and usable information that could be taken back to the classroom and immediately implemented.”
Learn More
Watch the video below to learn more about this interdisciplinary opportunity!