Steinbeck Young Authors

2010-2011 Winners

Jody Award:

The Jody Award represents the proficient and advanced writers who are good or strong writers who write consistently clear, coherent and focused essays.

6th Grade

First: Leyllah Johnson • San Antonio School
Second: Washakie Tibbetts • International School of Monterey
Third: Maria Hernandez • Chalone Peaks Middle School
Judges Award for High-level Critical Thinking: Sofia Pagano • San Benancio Middle School

7th Grade

First: Helena Guenther • All Saints Day School
Second: Phillip de Lorimier • San Benancio Middle School
Third: Cati Bianchi • Good Shepherd Catholic School
Judges Award for Use of Quotations and Parallels to Personal Life: Hannah Villafuerte • Harden Middle School

8th Grade

Judges Award for Engaging Personal Story: Rachel Bleisch • Lagunita

Gabilan Award:

The Gabilan Award is for emerging writers who are still developing their skills and making progress toward proficiency.

6th Grade

First: Emanuel Valdez • Main Street Middle

7th Grade

First: Lourdes Chavez • La Paz Middle School
Second: Orlando Guerreros • La Paz Middle School
Third: Christina Luo • Merryhill School
Judges Award for Detailed Personal Connection: Vanessa Luevano • Harden Middle School

8th Grade

First: Alodia Faytaren • Madonna Del Sasso School
Second: Shayda Barforoshi • Merryhill School

Billy Buck Award:

The Billy Buck Award is for English Learners. English language learners are defined as students who do not speak English as their first language and are making progress towards proficiency in English.

7th Grade

First: Ana Cabrera • San Antonio
Judges Award for Outstanding Personal Connection: Bryan Alvarado • Harden Middle School

Judges Award:

Each year the judges will find essays that demonstrate a particular creativity that does not reflect any of the categories. The essay might take a unique point of view or be particularly descriptive in the use of language. The judges have established these awards to recognize the special creative talents of some of our young writers.

Steinbeck Young Authors is an innovative program that was created to provide an opportunity for middle school students to explore the excitement of writing, enhance their writing skills, and introduce them to the works of John Steinbeck.

Steinbeck Young Authors 02

Steinbeck himself was inspired by a good book and strong teachers—a combination we hope will motivate students to discover the power of the written word. Teachers in the Steinbeck Young Authors program use a specially developed curriculum written especially for The Red Pony.

Over 5400 middle school students from Monterey County, Santa Cruz County and Solon, Iowa have participated in this program over the last six years. Steinbeck Young Authors teachers select two students to attend a special Day of Writing at the National Steinbeck Center, where they meet a real “Red Pony”, write an essay combining their personal life experiences and their studies of The Red Pony. They are then paired with a volunteer writing ‘coach’, a community member who uses writing as a part of their careers, who reviews their work with them. After the session with their coaches, students have an opportunity to edit their essays and turn them in for a final review. A panel of experts judge the students’ works over a two-week period. All “Day of Writing” participants are invited to celebrate their accomplishments and award recipients are acknowledged at an award ceremony held at the World Theatre on the campus of Cal State University, Monterey Bay. All of the student essays are published in the Gabilan Journal.

2011-2012 Steinbeck Young Authors Program

Over 4000 middle school students from Monterey County, Santa Cruz County and Solon, Iowa participated in last year’s program, and over 23 schools were represented. SYA teachers selected two students to attend a special “Day of Writing”, held Monday, March 7th at the National Steinbeck Center, where they met a real “Red Pony”, wrote an essay combining their personal life experiences and their studies of The Red Pony. They were paired with a volunteer writing ‘coach’, a community member who uses writing as a part of their careers, and they reviewed their work with them. After the session with their coaches, students had an opportunity to edit their essays and turn them in for a final review. A panel of experts judged the students’ works over a two-week period.

Steinbeck Young Authors is an innovative program that was created to provide an opportunity for students across Monterey County to explore the excitement of writing, enhance their writing skills, and introduce them to the works of John Steinbeck. Steinbeck himself was inspired by a good book and strong teachers—a combination we hope will motivate students to discover the power of the written word. Teachers in the Steinbeck Young Authors program use a specially developed curriculum written especially for The Red Pony.

The Steinbeck Young Authors Program consists of three stages: a classroom component for all students, a Day of Writing event for teacher-nominated students, and an Awards Ceremony. Over 20,000 students have participated from public and private schools from schools throughout California and beyond.

Download the 2011-2012 SYA Program Description: (doc)

Download the 2011-2012 SYA Program Timeline: (doc)

Download the 2011-2012 SYA Program Recruitment Letter: (doc)

Download the Teacher Participation form: (doc)

Download the Student Selection form: (doc)

Download the Lending Library Application form: ( doc)

Download the Teacher Evaluation form: (doc)

Download the Award Participation and Recognition Criteria: (doc)

Please send completed registration forms to Sandra Silva

e-mail: sandra@steinbeck.org

fax: 831.796.3828

or by mail:
National Steinbeck Center
One Main Street
Salinas, CA 93901

Download the Curriculum Binder .