This form is for Active Poet-Teachers to complete their required annual recertification for the 2026-2027 school year. Maintaining your active status ensures you continue to enjoy the full benefits of the CalPoets network, including access to local grants, the annual statewide anthology, lesson plans, fundraising support, and the use of the CalPoets designation and logo. 

Eligibility

This form is strictly for currently active Poet-Teachers who have already applied, interviewed, completed their initial orientation and training, and are seeking to renew their status. (If you are a new applicant, please return to our main Submittable page and select the "New Poet-Teacher Application".)

Annual Recertification Requirements

To remain in good standing and maintain your Active Poet-Teacher status, you must confirm that you have met the following core responsibilities over the past year:

• Teaching: Teach at least one poetry residency (typically 5-10 classes) in a California K-12 classroom within the calendar year as a CalPoets Poet-Teacher. 
• Network Engagement: Participate in at least three CalPoets-sponsored events (such as monthly gatherings, the annual Symposium, or quarterly open mics). 
• Artistic Leadership: Demonstrate leadership or artistic participation in poetry-related community outreach or events outside of your standard classroom residencies. 
• Branding Compliance: Continue to follow CalPoets' simple branding and messaging guidelines in your biographies, contracts, and professional correspondence. 

What You Will Need to Complete This Form

The recertification process is primarily a simple verification form. Please have the following information ready before you begin:

• Residency Details: The name of the school(s), school district(s), and grade level(s) where you completed your K-12 poetry residency this past year.
• Event Attendance: A brief list of the three CalPoets events you attended.
• Leadership Summary: A short description of your community outreach or artistic leadership activities.
• Directory Updates: Any updated contact information, headshots, or biography adjustments for your listing in our public Poet-Teacher database.

Questions or Support?

If you have any questions about your status, need to report a barrier to completing your requirements, or need technical assistance with this form, please contact the CalPoets administrative team before submitting.

Thank you for your ongoing dedication to empowering voices, cultivating connection, and advancing empathy among California's youth!

California Poets in the Schools aims to offer a First Friday Workshop each month geared towards Poet-Teachers but open to the public. These events occur 11:30am-1:00pm on the first Friday of each month, on Zoom. Workshops will be advertised on the California Poets in the Schools website, and social media. CalPoets' will handle all registration for the workshops. Workshops will occur on the CalPoets' Zoom account. We are seeking proposals from active Poet-Teachers or Poet-Teachers-in-training who are interested in leading a workshop.

Proposals of the following duration are acceptable.  Payment offered to leaders depends upon length of workshop:

25 minutes - $100 paid to presenter

45 minutes - $175 paid to presenter

90 minutes - $350 paid to presenter

Please submit a brief proposal below, including your preferred dates and length of workshop.  We aim to respond within one month of submission.  Not all proposals will be accepted.  

Examples of potential workshop proposals could include:

• Lesson plan share
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion resources
• Implementing new technology in the classroom
• Aligning lessons with common core standards
• Working in collaboration with other institutions
• Finding funding
• Creative writing and process (Keep in mind that we have a creative writing group that meets on Wednesday mornings already)
• And more... 

We look forward to reading your submission!