Read the winning stories from the 2025 PBS KIDS Writers Contest at WVPB!
Nominate an exceptional West Virginia teacher today!
On Demand
On Demand
Watch locally produced documentaries & more.
On Demand
On Demand
West Virginia Morning
Inside Appalachia
West Virginia Week
Mountain Stage
Us & Them
The Legislature Today
Send us your comments and questions.
Stream our board meetings.
Check out the latest WVPB news.
Sign up for our newsletter and get weekly updates.
Meet the WVPB staff.
WV Educational Broadcasting Authority, the WVPB Foundation, and the Friends of WVPB.
Come work with us!
Sponsor impactful and engaging media and entertainment.
Use your IRA to make a gift to WVPB.
Become a member with your gift of $1,000 or more.
Make WVPB part of your legacy.
Manage your membership account.
Learn how you can Protect and Sustain West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
A West Virginia high school student has been named a finalist in the national Poetry Out Loud competition and will compete in Washington, D.C., for the grand prize.
St. Mary’s High School senior Willow Peyton will compete for the title of 2024 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and a $20,000 award at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium Thursday night.
Peyton is one of nine finalists out of a field of 55 state and jurisdictional champions from across the country to compete reciting classic and contemporary poetry.
In an interview published by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Peyton likened the poetry recitations to a theatrical performance.
“I love seeing the different interpretations of the poems themselves. There’s so many things you have to learn about her poems and how to recite them correctly and memorizing them that’s different yet so alike to acting in theater.”
A program of the NEA and the Poetry Foundation along with the state and jurisdictional arts agencies, Poetry Out Loud has reached more than 4.4 million students since it began in 2005.
This year’s state and jurisdictional champions advanced from more than 160,000 students nationwide.
“I think I’ll look back on it as an insanely positive experience, no matter the outcome,” Peyton said.
The competition finals will be live streamed on the NEA website, as well as on their YouTube.
This week, Inside Appalachia,, a hospital in Western North Carolina was bought out. Residents say the quality of care has gone down. Also, an immersion school in North Carolina is trying to revitalize the Cherokee language with the help of a printmaking class. And, a pair of artists follow cicada hatchings to make art from their shells.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsThis week, Inside Appalachia, a West Virginia man is reviving a Black coal camp through farming. Also, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage. And, the Reverend George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia, was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered during Juneteenth through his poetry.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsOn this West Virginia Morning, we look at the impact trade tariffs could have on farmers, and hear about a recent poetry book released by a Webster County native.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsThere is a rich tradition of Black Appalachian poets and writers. One of the newest is Torli Bush, who grew up in Webster Springs, West Virginia. Bush has won poetry slams in the region, and now has a new book, Requiem for a Redbird. Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Bush about the book.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
