UA&M’s Arts Education program is excited to announce a three-credit, in-person, eight‑day Summer Intensive Ceramics Course this June! This course is open to teachers of all ability levels — no prior ceramics experience is required. The curriculum meets the ceramics competencies for the Elementary Visual Art Endorsement and the Secondary Visual Art Endorsement, and it counts towards the Art Integration Endorsement. There will be two cohorts offered, one in Morgan and one in Lehi, and participants can choose USBE (Midas) or SUU credit. 

Repertory Dance Theatre offers their Passport to History professional learning workshop for junior high and high school dance educators. During this three-day course, RDT's artistic staff and dancers offer an in-depth exploration of American modern dance history, providing teachers with the skills to teach students about the pioneers of the form and the choreographers who followed in their footsteps. Teachers will experience lesson plans and creative exercises from RDT's historic dance library, which includes more than 480 works from 1900-2025. Classes are June 22 - 24 at RDT studios in Salt Lake. The workshop offers USBE Credit, MIDAS, and an option for credit hours from Westminster University. 

Our partners at the Utah State Board of Education are hosting Utah’s Battle of the Books, an annual reading competition for students in grades K-12. The competition encourages students to read great books and provides an opportunity to have fun while working with a team and competing with peers. Students will read books from a selected list of titles and then participate in a competition. The list of books for each grade level is posted on the USBE website under the Battle of the Books tab. We encourage you to start advertising these books now, so students can have a jump start on summer reading. 

Our friends at the Brigham City Museum of Art & History invite teens ages 14-18 to join them for a hands-on week at the museum to step behind the scenes and find the hidden meanings behind certain objects. Participants will learn about object handling, creating themes for exhibits, writing labels, and displaying objects. Then they will work as a group to create their own exhibition that will be on display at the front of the museum. The camp will run from 10 a.m. - 12 noon the week of July 7 - 10. Registration includes all materials and a t-shirt.

The University of Utah is offering several short, low-cost, high-quality professional development opportunities for educators, including paraeducators. The offerings include both in-person and virtual courses and cover a wide variety of topics, from integrating Native American content into curricula, to AI tools, to strategies for managing behavioral issues in the classroom. 

The Salt Lake City Arts Council and the Mayor’s Office have launched the inaugural Salt Lake City Poet Laureate Program. This program will designate a local poet to serve as the city’s official ambassador for poetry and the literary arts. The poet laureate is a working artist and cultural leader who engages communities through public programming, civic participation, and a signature project. Apply by May 17.  

Are you interested in a reading or workshop with Utah Poet Laureate Lisa Bickmore for your school or community group? Learn more at the link about booking an appearance. Lisa is also conducting a “mobile micropress” project. She’ll work with writers and writers’ groups in communities around the state to help them publish micro-editions of chapbooks, broadsides, and other publications, collaboratively planned and devised.