Badgerdog lessons are designed to be creative, surprising, and engaging. Each Badgerdog workshop curriculum is unique and adaptive, tailored by the teaching artist to meet the grade-level benchmarks, interests, and talents of each student in that workshop. In these workshops, students learn through discovery, practice, mentorship, and collaboration with a small teacher-to-student ratio (1:8 for virtual workshops and 1:15 for in-person workshops). Each day, campers encounter the work of classic and contemporary writers, and they study the techniques these writers use to craft artful poetry and prose. Campers author numerous creative pieces in various genres, sharing their work along the way with their workshop colleagues. These summer workshops emphasize all aspects of the writing process, from idea generation to revision to publication.

At the end of the summer, all three-week summer camp students will have their work published in one of two professionally produced anthologies—Rise, for elementary-aged writers, and Emerge, for middle- and high-school writers. In the fall, Badgerdog hosts a Young Authors Reading & Anthology Launch, where selected campers perform their work and celebrate the launch of the anthologies. All summer camp writers are invited to attend!

Of course! Both eager and reluctant writers find Badgerdog’s workshops engaging and empowering. Our creative approach to the craft of writing allows hesitant writers to practice an essential skill in a no-fail, supportive environment—while also having fun! For more advanced writers, Badgerdog’s teaching artists provide challenges and offer personalized feedback.

If your child has dyslexia, dysgraphia, ASD we can accommodate your child. We’ve heard from parents of other campers with these challenges that Badgerdog is an ideal place to practice writing and learn new skills. We ensure that campers feel encouraged to continue trying, experimenting, finding their voices. We welcome technology that makes writing easier and more accessible for campers. We want to avoid the use of smart phones or anything that may distract other campers, but otherwise such devices are encouraged. Our registration form will allow you to share information about your child with us so we can provide tailored support, or you can contact our Programs Coordinator to discuss questions or concerns before signing up.

In and of itself, writing is a worthy pursuit, but at Badgerdog, we allow writers to take their work from the insides of a spiral notebook out into the world. That’s why each camp session culminates with a reading on-site, where students perform an original poem or story before an audience of fellow writers, parents, family, and friends.

 

The registration fee includes one copy of our student anthology, Rise or Emerge. 

Refund Policy: Full refunds, minus a $50 processing fee, will be granted for requests made more than 30 days prior to the start of the summer session. A partial refund of two-thirds of the registration cost will be granted for requests made between 7 to 30 days prior to the start of the workshop's session. Refunds are not granted for requests made within 7 days of the start of the workshop. Prorated rates and daily drop-in rates are not available for summer camps.

Early Bird Discount: A 10% discount will be applied to summer camp registration before March 1. Use discount code: badgerbird at checkout.

Sibling & Friend Discounts: Parents registering more than one camper at the same time for the same grade-level workshop will automatically receive a 5% discount per registration. Parents registering siblings for separate grade-level workshops can enter code siblings to receive 5% off. This discount can not be used with other discounts and will be available after the early bird discount expires on March 1.

Scholarships: A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available. Scholarships are open to rising 3rd-12th graders who demonstrate financial need and a commitment to writing. Students need not consider themselves “excellent writers” (or even “good writers”) in order to apply. We are most interested in a student’s willingness to grow as a writer and to become part of a community dedicated to learning together. Due to a high demand, scholarships will be limited to one workshop per applicant. Follow this link to complete a scholarship application form. 

• 66% of campers say they like writing more as a result of Badgerdog.
• 71% of campers say they are better writers as a result of Badgerdog.
• When asked how campers felt when writing, 94% used a positive phrase, such as "energized," "alive like a bird," "like I have a workable outlet for all of my ideas," or "like a balloon of happiness has just gotten blown up inside me.

What do campers like most about Badgerdog?

• small, supportive classes
• expressing themselves without being judged
• hearing other classmates share their work
• different types of writing exercises to "get us out of our comfort zone"
• meeting new friends and fellow authors
• the creative ways "we learned to write"

Here's what we heard from parents:

• 92% of parents say Badgerdog has a positive impact on their children's writing skills.
• 94% say Badgerdog has a positive effect on their children's attitudes toward writing.

We asked parents to identify the most significant positive effect of summer camp:

• "Attending Badgerdog  was the best activity C. participated in this summer. I was so impressed with the high quality of his instructor. The class was well-organized, with engaging, creative activities each day. And she created a safe space for C. to do something he finds pretty terrifying -- explore his own talent. It's a mark of how safe he felt that he actually participated in the end-of-camp reading with very little resistance."
• "Badgerdog drastically reduced writing reluctance, increased writing fluency, and increased interest in sharing writing with others."
• "The green light for self-expression."
• "Having a positive experience with a subject my child doesn't like."
• "It was great seeing and hearing my daughter describe each day of camp -- what she did in class, seeing her so enthusiastic about writing and speaking."
• "Exposure to different forms of writing. My older child was only interested in writing novels before attending camp, and this experience really opened her eyes to other forms."
• "Excitement about being published and having a 'real' author work with my daughter."
• "My daughter is dyslexic and has always been very negative about writing. However, she has had only positive things to say about her experience at camp."