Legible handwriting can be a tough feat for adults, but at Creekside Primary, two students have shown they don’t just write well — they win awards for it, too.

Kamyia King and Isabella Jones were recently announced state grade-level winners in the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest. Each year, more than 80,000 public and private students in grades K–8 submit samples of their penmanship, and in 2020, King and Jones were the top handwriters for first and second grades, respectively.

“We are very proud of Kamyia and Isabella,” Creekside Primary Principal Matt Scott said.

Scott and Jones’ father, Christopher Jones, each said it was a testament not just to the students but their teachers at Creekside that the contest win was possible.

“For a 7-year-old like my daughter to be the winning handwriting person in the state of Alabama … shows how much they appreciate these kids,” Christopher Jones said.

Contest entries are judged on shape, size, spacing and slant of letters. Entries can be manuscript or cursive, though students must each write the same sentence: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

State grade-level winners from each category compete against each other to become one of 18 national grade-level semifinalists, who then compete to be one of nine grand national grade-level champions.