For thirty-seven years, the Oakland Writing Project (OWP) has created powerful professional learning opportunities for preK-16 teachers. Multiple highly acclaimed statewide literacy initiatives trace their inception and success to the involvement of OWP Teacher-Consultants. An affiliate of the National Writing Project and a partnership between Oakland Schools and the University of Michigan- Flint (UM-Flint), OWP is anchored by a two week summer invitational institute held at UM-Flint, July 24th – August 4, 2017, 9:00am – 3:30pm daily. Teachers who participate claim their teaching lives are never the same again.