UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — Four budding poets from area school districts are the winners of the 2024 WPSU Poetry Writing Contest and will have their work broadcast on WPSU-FM. The work of all finalists of the contest will be published on the WPSU website. The contest was open to kindergarten–12th grade students across 26 Pennsylvania counties.
The works were reviewed by a judging panel consisting of 53 community volunteers and Penn State faculty and staff. The top three poems from each category were shared with Marjorie Maddox, WPSU Poetry Moment host and contest judge, who selected the following winning poems:
- “The Invisible Dragon” by Remington Aileo, 2nd Grade student from State College; Category: Kindergarten–2nd grade
- “Alysia's Dance” by Alaina Smith, 3rd Grade student from State College; Category: 3rd–5th grade
- “Beautiful Things” by Nina Woldt, 6th Grade student from Warren; Category: 6th– 8th grade
- “Glitter” by Maya Dombroskie, 11th Grade student from Boalsburg; Category: 9th – 12th grade
The winning poets voiced their poems for broadcast on WPSU-FM. The top three selected poems from each category are published in their entirety on the WPSU website.
“It makes me feel happy to let people read my writing. I hope the people who read it like it and feel that I am good at it,” said Remington Aileo.
His poem “The Invisible Dragon” was selected as the winning poem for grade Kindergarten-2nd grade category.
“I have been doing acrostic poetry since Kindergarten,” Aileo said. "But ‘The Invisible Dragon’ is my first real poem. I was inspired by reading ‘Wings of Fire’ and I like dragons.”
Nina Woldt said she has been writing poems for the past few years, but her winning poem “Beautiful Things” is the first poem she wrote using repetition. It was selected as the winning poem in the 6th–8th grade category.
“I’ve always been very inspired by nature and my friends and family. I wanted to include all of those elements in my poem,” Woldt said. “I try to write my poems so people can relate to what I feel and like hearing people’s opinions and feelings after reading my poems.”
Sarah Hamilton, education program manager for WPSU, organizes the annual contest.
“I am always impressed by the enthusiasm, creativity and expression the writers show through their poetry,” Hamilton said. “It’s also wonderful to see the impact on our community with responses from our volunteer reviewers and listeners on their reflections from the students’ work.”
Students in kindergarten–12th grade from school districts in the WPSU viewing and listening areas including Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Elk, Forest, Fulton, Huntingdon, Jefferson, Juniata, Lycoming, McKean, Mifflin, Montour, Potter, Somerset, Tioga, Union, Venango and Warren Counties were invited to submit poems of 200 words or less.
WPSU-FM is accessible to more than 450,000 listeners in 13 counties, and WPSU-TV, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station, serves 24 counties in central Pennsylvania and reaches 515,000 households. The public media station also includes WPSU Digital Studios, which offers original web series that explore science, arts, and culture.
WPSU is a service of Penn State Outreach.