Scottsdale woman continues volunteering to teach art of penmanship to students at age 91
KNXV
and last updated 2021-05-27 21:54:51-04
SCOTTSDALE â When 91-year-old Marilyn Harrer first stepped into a classroom to teach cursive handwriting, the year was 1951. In the seven decades since, she s seen a lot of students. I ve wanted to be a teacher since I was in first grade, Harrer explains.
Officially retired since 1997, Harrer now volunteers at Anasazi Elementary in North Scottsdale. Her students have some of the best penmanship in the state. Third grader McKenna Vick just won the state title in the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest.
Updated 5/28/2021 6:36 AM
Even from behind a mask, the smile on Rhys Acas face was obvious when the St. Thomas More Catholic School kindergartner was called to the front of his class Thursday.
The Rev. Ryan Browning waited for him, holding the object that was making Rhys light up his trophy for being named the kindergarten-level winner of the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest.
Held annually for the past 30 years, the contest is open to all students in kindergarten through eighth grade and attracts approximately 80,000 entries a year. Rhys was the only winner from Illinois this year. He s also the first student from St. Thomas More to win nationally in the nine years the school has participated in the contest.
At a Small Maine School, Cursive Endures and Wins National Awards
Although cursive handwriting “is a dying field,” as one teacher said, it has made a comeback in some schools, including one in Maine where two students won awards this month.
Credit.Woodland Consolidated School
Published May 24, 2021Updated May 25, 2021
For years, screens have replaced notebooks, keyboards have subbed in for pens and digital life has revolved around the printed word.
But at a small school in Maine, cursive handwriting thrives, with two students recognized in a national contest last week for their skills crossing T’s and dotting I’s with precise and legible shape, size, spacing and slant.
Moorhead 5th-grader is ahead of the curve as state winner in national cursive handwriting contest
Esther Hansen, a fifth-grade student at Park Christian School, was recently named a state winner in a national handwriting competition. Written By: Robin Huebner | ×
Esther Hansen, a fifth grader at Park Christian School in Moorhead, was named the best cursive writer among students at all private schools in Minnesota as part of the Zaner-Bloser handwriting competition. She was a participant in the national competition. David Samson / The Forum
MOORHEAD, Minn. Esther Hansen, a fifth-grader at Park Christian school in Moorhead, takes great pride in her handwriting, having learned to form her letters deliberately and neatly over the years.
Her perseverance has paid off.
She recently earned the distinction of having the best cursive handwriting among 5th graders in all of Minnesota’s estimated 600+ private schools.
Known as the 2021 Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest, the contest is now in its 30th year. It includes categories for both public and private schools.
Hansen, 11, is a student of teacher Brook Spaulding.
Spaulding said it’s an honor that the winner came from her classroom, but she can’t take any credit for Hansen’s beautiful handwriting, instilled by teachers in earlier grades.
Hansen learned cursive from second grade teacher Barb Volla.
“She wrote it down on the board, and we copied it, and it was really fun,” Hansen said.