Judging a Writing Contest
I’ve just finished judging the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards 2023, and once again, the entries were so impressive. This year, I judged the journalism and Memoir-Personal Essay categories written by people in middle school and high school. The range of topics was amazing — from mountain climbing to bullying to re-entering face-to-face school after COVID forced us all to go home.
The competition is very well organized for volunteer judges like me. The scoring rubric gives us good guidance on scoring the entries for clarity, voice, style and originality. We also have the option to nominate especially good entries for national distinction, which I did, for one memoir that really touched me. Regional results will be announced later this month, and national results in March. The winners receive scholarships for college or summer writing programs. I look forward to learning about and reading the winning entries.