History
Established in 1984
The Merced County Writing Festival was established in 1984. Educators from the Merced County Office of Education wanted a way to encourage writing throughout the curriculum at every grade level. The key person responsible for this dream becoming a reality was Mrs. Velma Satterfield. It was one of Mrs. Satterfield’s favorite accomplishments to provide an arena to recognize students’ writing skills and talent as well as publish their work. She felt that students learn to write by writing on a regular basis. It was her hope that students would develop an appreciation for writing along with improving their skills and realize that writing can be fun, and that writing is for everyone!
The Writing Festival would be a way to celebrate a year’s worth of classroom writing activities and represent the best work completed during the year. Today, at the beginning of each school year, teachers are given a handbook that lists over 40 different categories of prose and poetry. Students are taught the different types of writing and then encouraged to participate in the Merced County Writing Festival using these guidelines. Classes are invited to submit 3 entries per category in Prose and Poetry. Then panels of teachers from each participating school judge the entries. Judging takes place during a one-week timeframe, which this year saw nearly 2,600 entries. First, Second and Third place awards are given to each grade level in each of the categories of Prose and Poetry. A gold medal is given for the best entry in prose and the best entry in poetry at each grade level.
Anthology of Student Authors
From the 1984-85 school year to 1996 first and Second place winners in the areas of prose and poetry were published in an Anthology of Student Writing. Due to the expense of publishing the anthologies, in 1997 it was decided to continue only with the awards and the display of student’s winning entries. There were 64 entries during the first year of the Writing Festival. Today, more than thirty years later, nearly 2,600 entries were judged and 1,000 awarded. The Merced County Writing Festival touches the lives of more and more young people every year. A huge tribute goes out to the teachers who spend countless hours of preparation to showcase their students’ work. It is an honor for the Merced County Office of Education to coordinate and celebrate the efforts of students, teachers and staff! It is with this celebration that the Merced County Writing Festival recognizes its founder, Mrs. Velma Satterfield.