Virginia first-grader born without hands wins award for penmanship

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Virginia first-grader who was born without hands has won a national penmanship award.

According to WTKR-TV, 7-year-old Anaya Ellick, a student at Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake, recently earned the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Manuscript Penmanship in the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest, winning a trophy and cash reward.

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Anaya doesn't use prosthetic hands, but that hasn't held her back, WVEC reports. She writes standing up, bearing down as she holds a pen or pencil between her arms.

"She ties her shoes. She gets dressed by herself. She doesn't really need any assistance to do anything," Anaya's mother, Bianca Middleton, told WTKR.

"Anaya is a remarkable young lady," said Greenbrier principal Tracy Cox. "She does not let anything get in the way of doing what she has set out to do."

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Cox Media Group