Merced elementary school writers on display at festival

Students at John Muir Elementary in Merced showcased their skills during the school’s 11th annual Writing Festival.

The event Thursday included writings from every child to “create an atmosphere of inclusiveness,” school officials said in a news release.

The students chose topics that inspired them, from movies to their own experiences, officials said.

“Visitors could see the progression from a few carefully crafted words by the pre-school students to several eloquent pages by the fifth and sixth graders,” authorities said in the statement.

Many of the teachers at John Muir have honed their own writing skills through a four-week invitational summer institute at UC Merced known as the UC Merced Writing Project.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Merced elementary school writers on display at festival."