Winners Announced For The 2024 PBS Kids Writers Contest At WVPB

Charleston, WV – (April 4, 2024) The winners of the 2024 PBS Kids Writers Contest at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) have been announced. Eighteen stories written and illustrated by children in grades K-5 were chosen out of more than 175 entries from across the state.

“This was another successful year of creativity for our annual PBS Kids Writers Contest. The children of West Virginia are excellent writers capable of captivating stories. Thank you to the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WVDII) for sponsoring the event again this year,” said Maggie Holley, director of Education at WVPB.

“The Institute is pleased to sponsor this important event. We know that keeping kids safe and preventing them from using or misusing illicit and prescription drugs requires activities that keep youth engaged with positive and meaningful activities. Writing, much like sports, is one of of those protective factors,” said Dr. Susan Bissett, president of WVDII. 

“As a winner of a writing contest when I was 10 years old, I also have a special place in my heart for this event,” said Bissett.

Winners will be contacted by WVPB with information about our awards ceremony in May held at the Culture Center in Charleston.

All participants will receive a prize pack mailed to them by WVPB and PBS Kids.

The PBS Kids Writers Contest at WVPB is an annual competition that encourages West Virginia children in grades K-5 to explore the power of creativity by writing and illustrating their own stories.

For questions, please email WVPB Education at education@wvpublic.org.

See below for our 2024 winners:

2024 Writers Contest Winners

Kindergarten

1^st place: The Magic by Hazel Hagler

2^nd place: What Do You Do? by Ava Redden

3^rd place: Ballet is Magical and I Love It by Angeline Vittek

1^st Grade

1^st place: The Boy and the Time Machine by Elias Cooper

2^nd place: The Hungry Tree by Rowan Bailey

3^rd place: Mittens and Cocoa by Helina Goodwin

2^nd grade

1^st place: The Magic Corgi by Avonlea Cooper

2^nd place: Detective Casie and the Find of the Unicorn Fossil by Francesca Briar Shangler

3^rd place: Rainbow Ducky by Kensi Thomas

3^rd grade

1^st place: Protest for Pluto by Hazel Williams

2^nd place: Parents Just Don’t Understand by Elise Silber

3^rd place: From Triplets to Twins by Lauren Blake Bledsoe

4^th grade

1^st place: One in a Million by Ivy Ware

2^nd place: The Island’s Prophecy by Lucy Lacocque

3^rd place: Pickle Pete by Lilly Ann Stubbs

5^th grade

1^st place: The Sheriff That Changed by Mia Hutchison

2^nd place: From My Backyard to Mars by Harper Russell

3^rd place: The Dancer’s Promise by Lillian Swearingen