COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 1, 2023) — Top winners of this year’s Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest hail from 16 states — from Virginia to California — showing the enduring value of studying manuscript and cursive. A total of 49 states are represented among national and state-level winners. The contest, sponsored by educational publisher Zaner-Bloser, is the longest-running and best-known competition of its kind in the U.S., attracting close to 80,000 students each year in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Along with the fun of competition, contestants reap the cognitive benefits that stem from the handwriting process. Among them: Writing by hand engages more of the brain and enables better recall than using a keyboard. In the earliest grades, learning to write letters by hand helps children learn to recognize them more quickly.

“Research tells us what handwriting can do to support cognitive development and better academic outcomes,” said Zaner-Bloser President Lisa Carmona. “That’s why we’re committed to recognizing those schools that encourage the use of manuscript and cursive, and the students who work so hard to master it.”

Each year, 20 winners are chosen, including one grand national champion and one national semifinalist in each grade. In addition, the Nicholas Maxim Award is given to two students with cognitive, intellectual, physical, or developmental disabilities who excel in manuscript or cursive.

Winners have been thoroughly tested through the competition, which begins at participating public and private schools throughout the country. Schools choose their own winners, who then advance to their respective state-level competitions. State winners advance to the national competiton, where judges select nine grade-level grand national champions and nine grade-level semifinalists. Since the contest began in 1991, about 2.5 million students have participated.

All students write the required sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” because it contains every letter of the alphabet. Judges select winners based on Zaner-Bloser’s four keys to legibility: the shape, size, spacing and slant of the letters.

2023 Grand National Champions

• Kindergarten — Hunter Chappel, Joe Walker Elementary School, Washington, Pa.
• First Grade — Ainsley Vitkoski, Lehman-Jackson Elementary School, Lehman, Pa.
• Second Grade — Audrey Clemente, Valley Christian Academy, Santa Maria, Calif.
• Third Grade — Jasmine Nguedjam Mbianda, Prairie Vista Elementary School, Granger, Ind.
• Fourth Grade — Braedyn Fehl, Anasazi Elementary School, Scottsdale, Ariz.
• Fifth Grade — Lexi Pham, St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, Hapeville, Ga.
• Sixth Grade — Freya Mojica, St. Joseph School – Fullerton, Baltimore, Md.
• Seventh Grade — Daisy Almaraz, Sacred Heart Academy, Winchester, Va.
• Eighth Grade — Lauren Hand, St. Pius V School, Melville, N.Y.

Each Grand National Champion receives an engraved Zaner-Bloser trophy and a $500 check. Their schools receive a $1,000 Zaner-Bloser product voucher and a certificate of achievement handcrafted by master penman Michael Sull. The winners’ teachers also receive a handcrafted, personalized certificate.

2023 National Semifinalists

• Kindergarten — Kinsley Tholen, Seashore Learning Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
• First Grade — Clarisa Centeno, Incarnate Word Academy, Corpus Christi, Texas
• Second Grade — Thea Smith, Red Rock Central Elementary School, Lamberton, Minn.
• Third Grade — Irene Ma, Valley Catholic Elementary School, Beaverton, Ore.
• Fourth Grade — Mason Kluck, St. Peter Lutheran School, Schofield, Wis.
• Fifth Grade — Azlynn Florence, Sacred Heart School, Cullman, Ala.
• Sixth Grade — Brielle Plotz, Murray County Central Elementary School, Slayton, Minn.
• Seventh Grade — Ioana Oprea, Saint Herman of Alaska Christian School, Allston, Mass.
• Eighth Grade — Victor Young, Reid School, Salt Lake City, Utah

Each semifinalist receives an engraved Zaner-Bloser trophy. The semifinalists’ schools and teachers receive certificates of achievement handcrafted by master penman Michael Sull.

Nicholas Maxim Award Winners

• Manuscript — Andrew Clevenger, Corpus Christi Catholic School, South Bend, Ind.
• Cursive — Evelyn Thompson, Kirk Day School, St. Louis, Mo.

The Nicholas Maxim winners will each receive an engraved Zaner-Bloser trophy and a $500 check. Their schools will each receive a $1,000 Zaner-Bloser product voucher and a personalized certificate handwritten by master penman Michael Sull.