North Bergen, N.J. Third Grader Wins National Cursive Writing Contest

FAIRVIEW, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- It's a long way off, but a little boy from the Garden State may want to put his new award and national title on his college application forms.

As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported Tuesday, he could probably "write" it on his résumé better than type it.

Edbert Aquino has never held a pencil he didn't like. After all he is, "the grand national champion."

It's a new title for the North Bergen 9-year-old. He recently beat out nearly 250,000 kids his age to win the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest, which makes him the third grader with the best cursive handwriting in the country.

"I was proud of myself. My parents were proud," Aquino said.

"Edbert is a great student. He's very studious and he is very conscious of how he writes," added Filomena D'Amico, principal of Aquino's Catholic school, Academy of Our Lady of Grace in Fairview.

His teacher, Lori Sloan, said she has her students practice cursive writing at least twice a week for 25 minutes at a time. It has been a part of the school's curriculum since the 1960s.

"A kid does need to know when they become an adult how to write their signature, but also written communication is still important," Sloan said.

Sloan had all her students fill out an entry form for the contest, writing in cursive "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" and explaining what they like best about handwriting, but it was Aquino's submission that won.

"His handwriting, I sometimes feel that he writes neater than I do," Sloan said.

CBS2 put that to the test. The mentor and the student went head to head in a cursive handwriting contest. There's a 20-year difference in experience, but according to a show of hands from the class the 9-year-old won again. He's a cursive king who can't be beat.

Edbert received $500 for winning the national contest and his school got $1,000. His principal told CBS2 that every year her school submits entry forms, but it had never won until now.