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2022-2023 Weekly Challenges

• NEW THIS YEAR! ArtSpace Challenges .  As part of YWP's ArtSpace project , we have special art-themed challenges sprinkled throughout the Weekly Challenges during the school year. Watch for them! They're labeled YWP ArtSpace Challenge. Click here for the complete list .
• Try our newsy JOURNALISM PROJECT CHALLENGES here!

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The Young Writers Annual Showcase 2024

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Summer Camps

Offering time and inspiration, Minnesota Writing Project Young Writers Camps support young writers in a collaborative atmosphere where they can explore writing against the backdrop of the University of Minnesota. Join other young writers to meet new friends and write! In the morning, young writers will participate in activities led by Minnesota Writing Project Fellows and experienced teachers of writing including writing daily around the University campus. In the afternoon, campers will visit cool places around the University such as the Weisman Art Museum, the underground archives library, and the Aerospace building.

Camps are available for young writers entering grades 3–8 in the fall of 2024.

Registration

Early Bird Registration: $325 before April 1, 2024

Regular Registration $375

Sibling / Friend Discount: Registration for two or more campers at the same time will automatically receive a 10% discount

Campers explore a variety of genres and work on their own writing throughout the week. Learn new techniques for writing and responding to other’s writing in a fun and supportive environment. Choose from three different options: Writers Workshop, Storytelling, and Nature Journaling.

Campers will write daily in a variety of genres each day. Camps for grades 3–5 will respond to books read in class and work on cool projects connected to different themes. Camps for grades 6–8 will work on a multi-draft piece over the course of the week. Whether they are a reluctant writer or working on their third novel, every writer will be supported by staff dedicated to inspiring and supporting writers of all abilities. Meet new friends and learn new techniques to respond to writing!

Let’s get outside! Campers learn about nature journaling techniques such as easy sketching practices, incorporating their senses, and different ways to measure what they see. We’ll see different parts of the university campus and learn to look for the small details and the big picture! If you love nature, this camp is for you: no artistic skill needed! 

Ever wonder what the rats would say in the Pied Piper or why the inside of a cottonwood tree looks like a star? Campers will engage with stories told by a professional teaching artist around the theme of community before writing their own stories that focus on problem solving and engaged citizenship. 

Calling all writers! Whether they are a seasoned or reluctant writer, our middle grades camps are fun for everyone. Campers explore a variety of genres and work on their own writing throughout the week. Meet other young writers while working collaboratively or responding to each other’s writing. Choose from three different options: Writers Workshop, Argument Artists, and Nature Journaling.

You’ve got an opinion and we want to hear it! But how do you organize a strong idea, gather evidence, and respond to opposing ideas? Campers learn argumentation skills and prepare for a big debate at the end of the week on a topic chosen by the group. If you’re a talker, careful listener, or are just ready to have fun, this camp is for you!

Important Program Information

Early Bird Registration: $300 before April 1, 2024

Regular Registration: $350

Financial Assistance

The Minnesota Writing Project believes that all youth should have access to high-quality programming without financial barriers. As part of our Radical Hospitality initiative, any requests for financial assistance will be honored. To request a scholarship, please email us at [email protected] , sharing the following information:

• Number of campers you would like to register
• Name of each camp you would like to enroll each camper in
• What you are able to pay for each camp

Camp Cancellations and Refunds

Full refunds are available through April 1. 50% refunds will be given after April 1.

If we must cancel a program due to insufficient enrollment or other circumstances beyond our control, we will offer a full refund or transfer your registration to another camp at no cost to you. Any program not meeting the minimum enrollment by two weeks before it starts will be canceled and you will be contacted by email.

Participation Waiver

Each youth being registered for Minnesota Writing Project Camps must have a waiver signed by a guardian.

• Download the waiver form (a Microsoft Word document). This form is also available by request (email [email protected] ).
• Complete the required boxes, including signer's name, youth's name, relationship, signer's email address, signer's mailing address, and signature.
• Email the completed form to [email protected] .

Camp Structure

Our full-day camps include writing activities in the morning and opportunities to explore the University of MN in the afternoon. Mornings will include whole-group learning time, individual writing time, writing conferences, and opportunities for sharing and feedback. After lunch, we will visit a different part of the University campus for activities at places like the Weisman Art Museum and the Aerospace program. We will be outside everyday, weather permitting.

Camps run from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM with convenient check in and check out times.

Check-in and Check-out

Check-in 8:15 – 9:00 AM 

Check-out 3:00 – 3:45 PM

Camp Leaders

The people who lead our camps are the creative force behind these programs. All Camp Leaders are Minnesota Writing Project Teacher-Leaders and provide a warm, welcoming, and supportive environment for all.

All camp leaders are chosen based on demonstrated excellence in curriculum development and engagement with young writers of all experience levels and degrees of confidence. All camp leaders have successfully completed background checks, Safety of Minors training, and emergency preparedness training. As practicing teachers, they also regularly complete professional development in educational best practices.

All in-person youth camps will be taking place in Nicholson Hall on the University of Minnesota campus.

Drop-off and Pick-up

Camp Directors will be waiting to check in your camper outside of the north entrance of Nicholson Hall on Pillsbury Drive. If you’re driving, you can pull up and drop off your camper at the entrance, where camp staff will greet you. If you would like to park on campus and walk your child to Nicholson Hall, the nearest parking ramp is the Church Street garage, which charges an hourly fee.

At the end of each camp, staff members will be waiting with students outside of the north entrance of Nicholson Hall on Pillsbury Drive. Similar to drop-off, you can pull up and pick up your student, or park in the Church Street garage.

What to Bring

• Wear comfortable layers of clothes. Weather permitting, we will go outside every day.
• Lunch and snack 
• Water bottle

What to Leave at Home

• Electronic devices such as music players, hand held games, cell phones, apple watches, air pods, etc.
• Fevers and contagious illness (consult the UMN safety guidelines)
• Pocket knives, weapons, or look-alike weapons

Campers are expected to follow basic rules of safety and respect. Behaviors or incidents of an ongoing, unsafe, serious and/or threatening nature may be cause for removal from the program without refund or credit.

Contact Information

If you need to contact your child during camp hours, please contact the MWP Camps office at 612-625-6323 or email a Camp Director using the contact information shared in the email you will receive prior to camp.

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15 years serving Vermont

Young Writers Project: ‘Watching’

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Young Writers Project is a creative online community of teen writers, photographers and artists, which has been based in Vermont since 2006. Each week, VTDigger features the writing and art of young Vermonters who publish their work on  youngwritersproject.org , a free, interactive website for 12- to 18-year-olds. To find out more, visit  youngwritersproject.org , or contact Executive Director Susan Reid at  [email protected] and 802-324-9538.

“Keep that ball off my lawn!” gives us the stereotype of the crotchety old man on his porch, shooing away innocent children rather than trespassers, but in reality the type to post up in front of their house on a fine summer’s day often turn out to be the most neighborly of all — not to mention observant. This week’s featured poet, Naomi Segal of Woodstock, takes a seat on her deck and watches as the world goes by.

Naomi Segal, 13, Woodstock

I am up 

with the sun. 

An ancient plate 

in danger of breaking 

holds pancakes 

I wait. 

I watch. 

The earliest wakers 

all have dogs. 

Later, 

large gaggles 

of kids 

meander 

toward the bus stop 

while their younger siblings 

with too-big backpacks 

bouncing 

with every bound. 

there is quiet, 

pierced by bird conversation 

and babies crying 

on their walks 

with their parents. 

a field trip

in bright green t-shirts

wanders by.

Three o’clock

brings back yellow buses

and tired kids.

At 5, 

the ice cream truck 

lures kids 

to its jingling window.

More dog walkers

My pancakes

and grew cold.

wrapped in a fleece blanket

on my porch.

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