SHAVERTOWN, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Some of us cannot seem to avoid poor penmanship, no matter how hard we try, but that is definitely not a problem for a 10-year-old Shavertown girl.
Her handwriting is so good that she won a national competition.
A digital pen, an interactive whiteboard, and a steady right hand are all it takes for Kendall Grabinski to demonstrate some of the most proficient penmanship you will ever see.
"I don't really practice it. I'm just kind of good at it," explained Kendall.
So good that the 10-year-old Lake-Lehman School District student put her cursive writing ability to the test, something she would never have guessed doing after first learning it three years earlier.
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"It was kind of shaky when I tried to write it," said Kendall.
But time and a latent talent for such things as size, spacing, and slant resulted in Kendall entering an in-school cursive writing contest.
Hers was deemed the best of all fifth graders at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School.
Next up, Kendall entered the 34th annual Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest in January.
Qualifying students across the country had to cursively write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" since the sentence contains every letter of the alphabet.
"I did one paper and then I did another and decided which one was better," explained Kendall.
After nearly 2,300 handwriting entries were submitted from across the country and judged, Kendall and her parents found out she was declared Zaner-Bloser's Fifth-Grade Grand National Champion.
"Proud parents?" 28/22 News asked Amy and David Grabinski, Kendall's parents.
"Yes, very proud," said Amy. "Extremely proud," stated David.
So is Kendall's school.
"We're very proud. I think it's so cool to know that out of the entire United States, we have a national ranking fifth grader who has the best handwriting out of all the entries in the entire US," said Jennifer Welby, fifth-grade teacher at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School.
While impressed, Kendall's teacher is not surprised.
"She always puts forth her best effort, whether it be the handwriting contest or her reading assignments or whatever task she has in the classroom," explained Welby.
"Kendall is very self-sufficient. You know, she knows what has to be done and she does it. She's not a child that needs, like, the reminder 'do your homework,'" said Amy Grabinski, Kendall's mom.
"You know, really, Kendall does a lot on her own. She likes to practice and she likes to perfect it just like her gymnastics and everything else she likes to do," explained David Grabinski, Kendall's dad.
Kendall competes in Xcel Silver for Wyoming Valley Gymnastics.
"I know that she's definitely active outside of school with gymnastics, and I think a lot of that confidence comes into the classroom, you know, when she excels on the mat, I think that leadership comes into the classroom as well," stated Amy Grabinski.
As cursive writing becomes a lost art due to keyboarding and digital writing, Kendall's teacher is glad to see her prized pupil keeping longhand alive for lots of reasons.
"Looking at recipes, looking at the Declaration of Independence, looking at wedding invitations, there's script all around," explained Welby.
"I think it's important, so if some kids, like, they want to know what cursive writing is, they can, like, learn it in different ways," said Kendall.
For being named Fifth-Grade Grand National Cursive Writing Champion, Kendall wins a trophy, a certificate, and $500.
Here's to you, Kendall!
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