Three Byron-Bergen students achieved honors in the 2019 Clarkson Historical Society Annual Cursive Contest.  Sixth graders Kendall Chase and Rose Wilson placed second and third in the 6-8 grade category and ninth grader Grace Shepard placed third in the 9-12 grade category.

“Since September, our students have had the opportunity to work on their cursive writing skills,” said Byron-Bergen Elementary School Principal Brian Meister. “It is my belief that integrating this skill into daily lessons will only benefit our students in the long run.”

Meister’s belief in the benefits of teaching and practicing cursive writing is shared by occupational therapist Suzanne Baruch Asherson of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. In an article in the New York Times Asherson writes, “Putting pen to paper stimulates the brain like nothing else, even in this age of e-mails, texts and tweets. In fact, learning to write in cursive is shown to improve brain development in the areas of thinking, language and working memory. Cursive handwriting stimulates brain synapses and synchronicity between the left and right hemispheres, something absent from printing and typing.”

Brain biology aside, pleasure was Grace’s motivation. When asked why she entered she simply said, “I really like writing cursive and I’m pretty good at it.”

Enjoyment was at the heart of the sixth grade entrants’ reasons as well. “I like the way it flows and comes together,” said Rose.

“I didn’t like writing cursive at first, but then I realized I was good at it and it’s really pretty,” said Kendall.  

“This year, almost every 6th grader participated. 19 of our students were finalists and two placed in the top three,” said sixth grade teacher Nicole Utz. “I’m extremely proud of all of our students.”