State College Area Student Among 4 Winners in WPSU Poetry Writing Contest

A State College area student is one of four winners from around Pennsylvania in WPSU’s 2026 Poetry Writing Contest.

Evelyn Morath, an eighth grade student in the State College Area School District, was named the winner of the sixth through eighth grade category for her poem “Parental Pruning.”

More than 200 students from 40 school districts in 16 counties submitted entries for the contest, which is held each April as an extension of WPSU’s “Poetry Moment” radio program and in honor of National Poetry Month.

Entries were reviewed by Penn State staff and community volunteers, and the top three from each category were shared with Marjorie Maddox, the host of “Poetry Moment,” who selected the winning works.

In addition to Morath’s poem, winners included:

• “Summer Forest” by Adley Brown, second grade student from Warren County School District in Warren.
  Category: Kindergarten through Second Grade
  
• “Puppy Paws” by Elliette Fralick, fifth grade student from Warren County School District in Warren.
  Category: Third through Fifth Grade
  
• “Where We First Took Root” by Eliza Knott, ninth grade student from Penn Cambria School District in Gallitzin.
  Category: Ninth through 12th Grade 

Morath began reading and writing poetry in seventh grade. She said her poem entitled “Parental Pruning” was inspired by a drawing she created of a flower that had cracks in its petals and leaves. It made her think about kids who are forced to grow up early and act like an adult before their time.

“My poem then morphed into one about societal pressures on an individual to conform to rigid expectations in the name of productivity, profit and perfection. While examining this concept, I realized that what we often label as maturity is more akin to a gradual decline of one’s spirit and untapped potential,” Morath said in a WPSU news release. “The poem reflects my frustration with a system that treats this stifling of individuality and the freedom of being childish, being able to just laugh and smile, as a necessary part of growing up. I aimed to challenge this rigid mindset by advocating for a culture that values uniqueness and nurtures our true selves, rather than binding us to narrow norms.”

Morath’s poem is below. Read all the award-winning poems on the Poetry Moment page on the WPSU website.

“Parental Pruning”
By Evelyn Morath, 2026

Plucked From Childhood, 
Ripped, not grown 
Cut from the ground 
Our roots, still learning to hold.
You, 
You didn’t wait, 
You never do. 
You said bloom, 
You meant behave. 
You said potential, 
You grabbed scissors. 

Roses cut for your table, dandelions decapitated, 
Because you hate what grows without permission. 

So many of us, 
Cut down to serve. 
Stand still. Smile. Work. 
We drink what you allow. 
Our sunlight’s your profit. 

You, 
You feed us praise like scraps. 
You ration water like mercy. 
You called it an opportunity. 

Stunted life disguised as progress. 
Withering known as maturity 
Grief labeled normal. 

Maybe, if we’re lucky, 
A few seeds will fall far, 
When you aren’t looking. 
Most don’t. 

Your mercy dried up, 
Your praise gone, 
Your profit diminished, 
Because we’re not yours anymore.

Just, dead.

And, 

You shrug.

Everyone has to grow up. You called it life.