Camden student's perfect penmanship captures championship | News

CAMDEN, SC (WIS) - You may not believe it, but there's a nationwide competition for elementary school students who practice perfect penmanship.

That's right, it's the Zaner-Bloser's National Handwriting Contest. Guess what? A 9-year-old Camden boy brought home the gold this year with first place in the 3rd grade division.

Trenton Stokes is a student at Pine Tree Hill Elementary. In order to compete, Stokes had to write a couple of sentences that included his thoughts on why cursive is important.

"I was so nervous that I would not win," said Stokes. "I really wanted to win so much."

Stokes represents a shrinking group of people who are hot for handwriting.

In a digital age, some states have eliminated it from school curricula despite research that shows handwriting stimulates brain development and reasoning skills.

But Stokes isn't too worried about that. He's looking forward to his trophy and  the $250 cash prize.

Stokes' third grade teacher Randy Self said it was obvious back in November that he had a special pen stroke.

"After seeing the first word he wrote," said Self, "I knew something special was there, because I'd never seen a child write perfect cursive in practice before."

"The stroke, shape, the slant. all of it just seemed to be perfect, even during homework," said Self.

Not only did Stokes win national honors, but he ended up winning his school and the state before becoming the crowned calligraphy champion.

"At the awards ceremony (Wednesday) night I was like cash, that's so awesome," said Stokes.  "It was really cool."

Stokes is still sharpening his skills. He says he wants to get faster.

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