Frontier Local students succeed in handwriting contest

NEW MATAMORAS -- Students from the Frontier Local School District were recognized as winners in a national contest in handwriting at the Frontier Board of Education meeting Wednesday.

The National Handwriting contest is sponsored by Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of educational materials in handwriting, reading, writing, and mathematics. National winners are selected, as well as on the state level. All five were named on the state level in Ohio. Nine students were selected in total throughout the state.

"You have to remember, we have five out of nine that could win in the state. That's it. And we had five of them in our district, so that's pretty exciting. There are 200,000 to 300,000 participants each year," Frontier School District Occupational Therapist Carol Armann said.

The recognized winners are:

¯ Kindergarten – Journey Auville under teacher Angie Ashworth (Newport Elementary)

¯ First Grade – Kaelee Morris under teacher Amy Powell (Newport Elementary)

¯ Second Grade – Raelynn Seevers under teacher Patrick Hanel (Newport Elementary)

¯ Fourth Grade – Katelyn Morris under teacher Melissa Buchanan (Newport Elementary)

¯ Sixth Grade – Dalton Eddy under teacher Tara Hays (New Matamoras Elementary)

Another student won the Nicholas Maxim Award for Excellence in Penmanship designated for students in special education classes. It was named for a student born without hands and lower arms who entered the contest in 2011. The winner is first-grader Ayden Thomas from New Matamoras Elementary.

"These are kids who have special needs. If you look at Ayden's handwriting, you are not going to guess he has special needs. His handwriting is absolutely stellar," Armann said.

Students were presented their handwriting sample submitted to the contest judges, a congratulatory letter from Zaner-Bloser, a medallion, and certificate with their name to showcase their win.

Armann said Auville's teacher Angie Ashworth has had a winner in the contest for eight straight years.

Kaelee Morris's teacher Amy Powell was present and awarded a token to show her student's win.

"Mrs. Powell does do an excellent job doing systematic and direct instruction in handwriting. With all the work we're hearing about dyslexia, that's a cornerstone in helping kids learn to read," Armann said.

Armann thanked the school board for providing resources to help students learn to read and write.

"I just want to thank you guys for supporting me as an (occupational therapist) in your district but also supporting these kids. Financial resources that provide handwriting books and great teachers have had direct instruction in handwriting. It's made a huge difference," she said.

"It's very exciting especially because we are a small, rural school to have our students recognized that way," Dalton Eddy's teacher Tara Hays said. "Being from Frontier is something you can be proud of."